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Boost your business technology with a $15,000 Digital Adoption Grant.

The Canadian Digital Adoption Program

The government of Canada is providing $1.4 billion in funding to help small to medium-sized businesses become more digitally evolved.

Access your $15,000 share to partner with a digital advisor who will guide you through your transformation.

Digital Adoption Plan Case Studies

We completed dozens of Digital Adoption Plans for Canadian companies just like yours.

Digital Adoption Plan

What's included in the developing of the Digital Adoption Plan?

AdEasy will collaborate with your team to develop a CDAP-approved digital adoption plan for your specific needs. At a minimum, the digital adoption plan will include the following elements:

  • Information about the current state of your business. This will help AdEasy understand the strategic goals and challenges of your business to build a baseline of your current technology.
  • Technology options analysis. With AdEasy’s expertise, we will identify what types of digital solutions your business should consider and how those solutions align with the business goals and challenges.
  • A digital strategy and benefits to the business. AdEasy will take into account your company’s governance, its business model, and its key processes that technology can help optimize. We’ll review your current digital strategy and your technological capabilities.
  • Implementation roadmap. AdEasy will identify key business actions to be done before the adoption of digital solutions, as well as a proposed list of technology initiatives. For the main projects proposed in the digital adoption roadmap, AdEasy will also provide high-level project timelines, dependencies and the costs of change required for adopting these new technologies.

Since every business has different needs, the digital adoption plan will be tailored to your specific needs.

What happens if the digital adoption plan is not approved?

If there are any issues with the digital adoption plan, CDAP will work with the SME and the Digital Advisor to resolve the issues. There will be opportunities to modify the plan if needed.

Can AdEasy recommend vendors in the digital adoption plan?

Digital advisors cannot recommend any specific vendors in the digital adoption plans. The intention is for the plan to be a ‘stand alone’ piece that the client can walk away with without feeling directed to a specific vendor/software solution and/or that they need to hire the digital advisor for the implementation given that they are the only ones in the game that can implement it (or they offer their own solutions). Hence, the plans need to be vendor-neutral.

Digital Adoption Grant Process

Step 1. Ensure Your Business is Eligible

SMEs must meet all of the following eligibility criteria:

  • Is a sole proprietor whose owner is a Canadian resident or a business incorporated under the laws of Canada or a province or territory
  • Is a for-profit business
  • Has between 1 –499 full-time equivalent employees
  • Has at least $500,000 of annual revenues but not more than $100,000,000 in one of the previous three tax years from the date of submitting a grant application.
  • Is a privately owned business
  • Is a Canadian-controlled Private Corporation (CCPC) as defined by the Canada Revenue Agency (applicable if the business is incorporated under the laws of Canada or a province or territory)
  • Is a business that respects human rights codes, labour, environment and anti-corruption standards, as well as engages exclusively in legal activities

You can also take AdEasy’s pre-qualification survey by clicking here.

Step 2. Apply for the Boost Your Business Technology Grant

It takes about 15 minutes to apply for the grant. You can start your application here. Once you have access to the portal, complete the Digital Needs Assessment, which contains about 40 multiple-choice questions.

Once you complete your assessment, you’ll be asked to submit it within the portal for grant approval. Now you’re ready to book a Discovery Call with AdEasy by choosing a date and time that works for your team here.

Step 3. Book a Discovery Call with an AdEasy advisor.

Choose the best day and time for a short call with one of our Digital Advisors so we can review your needs and begin to develop a proposal for your plan.

Book a Discovery Call here. 

Step 4. Proposal Acceptance

Before AdEasy starts working on a digital adoption plan for your business, both parties will need to agree to the terms of the agreement.
Your business will be reimbursed for 90% of the cost of developing the digital adoption plan (to a maximum of $15,000) after the plan has been completed.
AdEasy’s proposal will include:
  • objectives of the digital advisory services to be provided
  • detailed work plan, including steps, milestones, deliverables and associated timelines
  • the activities that are minimally needed to meet CDAP criteria that your business will need to execute for the project
  • the roles, responsibilities and effort of each consultant proposed
  • proposed fees and a payment schedule

Step 5. Digital Adoption Plan Development

AdEasy will collaborate with your team to develop a CDAP-approved digital adoption plan for your specific needs.

  1. AdEasy will conduct a digital audit of your digital marketing assets
  2. Based on your goals and challenges, our team will conduct research on potential solutions and vendors
  3. We will develop an implementation roadmap and provide costing for the vendors, software, and platforms you can invest in once the plan is complete. You can either invest in implementing the plan using your funds or submit your Digital Adoption Plan to BDC to acquire a 5-year no-interest loan of up to $100,000.
  4. We will compile our findings into the Digital Adoption Plan
  5. We will review and revise the plan to ensure it meets your requirements

Step 6. Submit Your Plan for Reimbursement

Once your plan is complete, we will help you submit it along with the invoices required to be reimbursed by CRA for up to $15,000 or 90% of your total investment.

Step 7. Apply for BDC Loan up to $100k (optional)

You can either invest in implementing the plan using your funds or submit your Digital Adoption Plan to BDC to acquire a 5-year no-interest loan of up to $100,000.

AdEasy’s Long-Term Client Partners

For over 10 years, AdEasy has maintained long-term relationships with our client partners by helping businesses like yours adopt digital technology and acquire customers online.

Get Started

It doesn’t matter what stage you’re in. We’re here to help.

Do you qualify?

The first step in acquiring the grant is determining whether or not your business qualifies.

Take our Pre-Qualification Survey

Already approved?

If you’ve already been approved for the CDAP grant, then its time to book a Discovery Call with our team.

Book a Discovery Call

Other questions?

Do you have general questions about the CDAP program? Feel free to email our team, we’re happy to help!

Email our Team

FAQs

Timeline

What is the timeline for an SME applying to CDAP and getting approved?

If an SME were to apply today and the director chooses to verify their identity through the online automated service (verified.me), the eligibility of their CDAP application would be confirmed instantly.

If they cannot go through verified.me for identity verification, they can request a videoconference appointment with a CDAP officer for manual identity verification. It takes up to 5 business days to arrange an appointment for manual identity verification.

What is the timeline for a digital advisor working with an SME?

Upon confirmation of eligibility, the SME will have up to 6 months to accept the terms of the CDAP Grant Agreement.

The SME will have up to 9 months to submit a Digital Adoption Plan and invoice from a listed advisor in order to receive a Boost Your Business Technology grant.

SME Eligibility

What is the timeline for an SME applying to CDAP and getting approved?

If an SME were to apply today and the director chooses to verify their identity through the online automated service (verified.me), the eligibility of their CDAP application would be confirmed instantly.

If they cannot go through verified.me for identity verification, they can request a videoconference appointment with a CDAP officer for manual identity verification. It takes up to 5 business days to arrange an appointment for manual identity verification.

What is the timeline for a digital advisor working with an SME?

Upon confirmation of eligibility, the SME will have up to 6 months to accept the terms of the CDAP Grant Agreement.

The SME will have up to 9 months to submit a Digital Adoption Plan and invoice from a listed advisor in order to receive a Boost Your Business Technology grant.

What are the eligibility requirements for SMEs?

SMEs must meet all of the following eligibility criteria:

  • Is a sole proprietor whose owner is a Canadian resident or a business incorporated under the laws of Canada or a province or territory
  • Is a for-profit business•Has between 1 –499 full-time equivalent employees
  • Has at least $500,000 of annual revenues but not more than $100,000,000 in one of the previous three tax years from the date of submitting a grant application.
  • Is a privately owned business
  • Is a Canadian-controlled Private Corporation (CCPC) as defined by the Canada Revenue Agency (applicable if the business is incorporated under the laws of Canada or a province or territory)
  • Is a business that respects human rights codes, labour, environment and anti-corruption standards, as well as engages exclusively in legal activities

For the purposes of 1-499 employee requirement, does the owner count as an employee?

A full-time equivalent (FTE) employee is defined as receiving a T4 Statement of Remuneration Paid slip from the applicant. One FTE is defined as at least 30 hours/week of paid labour. Part-time employees must be included as fractions of 1 FTE based on average labour hours compared to typical hours for 1 FTE employee.

Can SMEs claim both provincial and federal grants?

SMEs in the PAI 4.0 program or other recognized equivalent program can benefit from both grants provided that the digital advisors are registered and eligible for both programs.

What programs are recognized as equivalent?

Currently, the programs recognized by CDAP are:

  • Programme Audit Industrie 4.0 (in French only)
  • Digital Boost 2.0
  • Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency: Digital Acceleration Pilot
  • Prince Edward Island: Digital Acceleration Fund
  • BDC Advisory Services

CDAP is continuously identifying equivalent digital adoption programs across the country and will add them to the list of approved programs on an ongoing basis.

BDC Loan

What type of costs are eligible under the BDC loan?

Below are examples of costs eligible to support the implementation of digital adoption plans:
  • Acquiring IT equipment
  • Installation of new technologies
  • Updating and/or expanding IT equipment
  • Training staff on onboarded technologies
  • Materials and support services directly related to onboarding the technology
  • Further advisory services on particular aspects of the digital adoption plan

Note: On a case-by-case basis, the program may consider supporting the inclusion of additional eligible costs.

Do you have more information on the BDC financing?

Eligible SMEs may apply for a loan of up to $100,000 with 0% interest from BDC.

  • Eligibility
    • Business revenues between $500,000and below $5M: you can request a loan between $25,000and $50,000o
    • Business revenues $5M and more: you can request a loan between $25,000and $100,000
  • Flexible terms
    • 5-year term with 12-months capital postponement (total of 6years)
    • No fees
  • Convenient application deadline
    • You have 1year from the completion of your approved digital adoption plan to make a loan request.

BDC Loan Application Credit Worthiness

You will need documentation to prove your business creditworthiness when applying for the BDC loan.

  • Completed BDC Financing Application Form (online)
  • BDC statement of personal affairs for each stakeholder (online)
  • Valid ID for each stakeholder
  • Last year-end financial statements for the business

Why would BDC decline your application?

Why BDC would decline:

  • Does not meet minimal credit thresholds
  • Potential fraud identified
  • Financial statements are showing no equity and/or major losses and/or major decline in sales, ect.

Agreement

Does the agreement between the DA and the SME need to be approved by CDAP?

The agreement is to be signed between the digital advisor and the SME, and does not need to be approved by CDAP. The SME only needs to upload the completed digital adoption plan and the invoice to receive the grant.

What's included in the proposal?

Before AdEasy starts working on a digital adoption plan for your business, both parties will need to agree to the terms of the agreement. Your business will be reimbursed for 90% of the cost of developing the digital adoption plan (to a maximum of $15,000) after the plan has been completed.
AdEasy’s proposal will include:
  • objectives of the digital advisory services to be provided
  • detailed work plan including steps, milestones, deliverables and associated timelines
  • the effort and activities that are minimally needed to meet CDAP criteria that your business will need to execute for the project-the roles, responsibilities and effort of each consultant proposed
  • proposed fees and a payment schedule

What is a digital advisor?

A digital advisor registered with CDAP is an organization that meets and maintains all of the required criteria to deliver digital advisory services to eligible Canadian SMEs. Digital advisors are required to provide vendor neutral advice in the provision of advisory services to SMEs and will be subject to CDAP’s Code of Conduct. Registered Digital Advisors will work with eligible SMEs to develop digital adoption plans tailored to the needs of the client.

Eligibility requirements for digital advisors

In order to be listed on the marketplace, digital advisors must meet the following eligibility criteria:

  • hold a relevant post-secondary degree or diploma or certification in a relevant field (e.g., computer science, engineering, business or commerce, digital or information technology or systems; an MBA, CPA or related professional designation is preferred)
  • have a minimum of five years of experience providing digital advisory services
  • have experience in developing digital business strategies, models, products or services
  • have expertise in digital technology solutions for SMEs (e.g. Enterprise Resource Planning, Customer Relationship Management) in various industries (e.g. manufacturing, distribution, retail, construction)
  • have experience in executing digital technology selection processes and structural analytical techniques
  • be able to provide all elements of a CDAP digital adoption plan (as per the CDAP digital adoption plan guide)

Invoice

How does the invoice and payment work?

The eligible SME will submit their digital adoption plan and the invoice to the CDAP portal. If the plan is approved, they will get the grant within 30 days of submitting the documents. The eligible SME is responsible for paying the digital advisor, and the invoice details and payment dates should be agreed upon between the SME and the advisor.

What should be included in the invoice?

The invoice must contain:

  • Full name of Digital Advisor including address, and business number
  • Billing information of applicant including full legal and operating name and address
  • Invoice date
  • Invoice number
  • Payment terms
  • Quantity,Description and price of services provided to produce the DAP (excluding taxes)
  • Subtotal of costs-Itemized taxes (PST, GST, or HST)
  • Final Cost (inclusive of taxes)
  • HST # of Digital Advisor

Youth Placement Wage Subsidy

Do you have more information regarding the youth wage subsidy?

An SME will be eligible for a youth placement as long as they meet the program eligibility criteria. The SME must either be approved for a grant (for a digital adoption plan) or have a digital adoption plan that was developed through one of the programs recognized by CDAP and is less than a year old. Once this has been confirmed, the SME will be redirected to the Youth Placement provider.

Can an SME apply for the youth wage subsidy only?

No, the youth wage subsidy is to help the SME implement their solutions identified in the digital adoption plan.

Taxes

Does the $15,000 grant include taxes?

The $15,000 grant includes taxes. The grant covers 90% of the eligible costs, up to a maximum grant value of $15,000 (including applicable taxes).