Canada Digital Adoption Program (CDAP)

Stream 1: Grow Your Business Online

BDC is not involved in this stream.

Grow Your Business Online helps small, consumer-facing businesses with yearly revenues under $500k to take advantage of e-commerce opportunities. It provides advisory services as well as micro-grants of up to $2,400 to help with the costs related to adopting digital technologies.

Stream 2: Boost Your Business Technology

BDC is involved in this stream.

Boost Your Business Technology helps small and medium sized businesses that require more advanced technology. These businesses will be able to access a grant from Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) to cover up to 90% of the cost of advisory services to develop a digital adoption plan, to a maximum grant value of $15,000. The business will then have the opportunity to apply for a zero-interest loan from BDC of up to $100,000 per business with a maximum of $200,000 per borrowing group ³, to implement the technology.

Please note that although the loan request is being made under CDAP, applicants must meet CDAP eligibility criteria and BDC credit worthiness requirements to receive a loan offer.

For more information, visit ISED's website

No, the zero-interest loan is only for businesses that are eligible under Stream 2: Boost Your Business Technology.

For the grant: Companies that can demonstrate a minimum of $500K in revenues in the last 3 fiscal years are eligible for the Boost Your Business Technology stream. If they do not meet these criteria, they may apply to Stream 1: Grow your business online.

For the loan: To qualify, companies must have at least $500K of annual income as of the closing date of their last fiscal year-end.

Please note that although the loan request is being made under CDAP, applicants must meet CDAP eligibility criteria and BDC credit worthiness requirements to receive a loan offer.

Yes, you may submit applications to CDAP for multiple businesses. Each business will need to operate separately from the other(s) and have its own digital adoption plan.

While you may apply for multiple businesses, note that you are limited to a maximum loan of $200,000 per borrowing group.³

Yes, BDC is one of the registered service providers on the Digital Advisors Marketplace. If your business is deemed eligible for the Boost Your Business Technology stream, you will have access to a curated list of service providers that are right for you on the Digital Advisors Marketplace. You can then select the service provider that meets your needs.

Please note that selecting BDC as an advisor will not affect your chances of qualifying for a zero-interest loan. All businesses are treated equally, whether they are existing BDC clients or not.

If you have a BDC Systems Selection plan or a digital adoption plan from BDC Advisory Services, or if you have another plan created by a digital adoption program recognised by ISED, you are invited to apply through the CDAP portal for the Boost Your Business Technology stream. During the application process, select the fast-track option and upload your plan. After it is approved, you will be referred to BDC to apply for the 0% loan.

To account for uncertainties and delays caused by the pandemic, existing plans of up to 24 months old are eligible for CDAP.

For the complete list of recognized programs, visit ISED’s website.

You will have 6 months from the time your Digital Adoption Plan is approved by ISED to complete your loan application with BDC. However, if you’ve completed a digital adoption plan through another recognized government program, a System Selection plan or another digital adoption plan from BDC Advisory Services you have 30 days to apply for the loan through the fast-track option.

If you exceed this timeframe, you will be ineligible for the loan.

Zero-interest loan of up to $100,000 with a 5-year term + 12 months capital postponement (total of 6 years). CDAP is a four-year program, so you can apply for the program until 2025.

The amount of the loan is determined by the size of your business. If your annual gross revenues as of the closing date of its last fiscal year-end are:

• between $500,000 and below $5M you can request a loan of between $25,000 and $50,000
• $5M and more, you can request a loan between $25,000 and $100,000

While you may apply for a loan for multiple businesses, note that you are limited to a maximum loan of $200,000 per borrowing group³.

The loan must be used solely for the implementation of a digital adoption plan that is recognized by the CDAP Boost Your Business Technology stream .

Please note that although the loan request is being made under CDAP, applicants must meet CDAP eligibility criteria and BDC credit worthiness requirements to receive a loan offer.

You can create your digital adoption plan, receive the grant that covers up to 90% of advisory services and then decide against the zero-interest loan. Participating in the digital plan portion of CDAP does not oblige you to apply for a loan. If you move forward to implement your plan, you can also source the required funds from your own cashflow or from your regular financial institutions.

The first step before applying for the loan is to have a digital adoption plan that is recognized by the CDAP Boost Your Business Technology stream. If you already have a digital adoption plan that was developed through a recognized government digital adoption program, you may be eligible to proceed directly to a loan application without developing a new plan.

Once your digital adoption plan has been reviewed and approved by CDAP login to the CDAP portal to gain direct access to BDC’s 0% financing form.

Please note that although the loan request is being made under CDAP, applicants must meet CDAP eligibility criteria and BDC credit worthiness requirements in order to receive a loan offer.

No. The loan under this program must be used to implement your digital adoption plan. You must be willing to attest to the use of the funds. Please understand that CDAP can audit you on this point.

The program eligibility is only one step in the process of making the loan request.

Your business may be declined for multiple reasons. For example, it may not have met BDC’s credit worthiness criteria (ex: credit history, etc.).

Please note that although the loan request is being made under CDAP, applicants must meet CDAP eligibility criteria and BDC credit worthiness requirements to receive a loan offer.

Also, as the CDAP zero-interest loan is part of a standard loan application, standard banking practices apply. A declined loan request is reflected in your credit score. This is part of the consent you provide when applying for the loan.