Deadline: 6-Aug-21
The Government of Canada is issuing this Call for Applications for Grow Your Business Online funding to provide funds to interested applicants whose role will be to support small businesses in developing and implementing their e-commerce strategies.
In Budget 2021, the government announced that, to fuel economic recovery, jobs, and growth, ISED will be launching the Canada Digital Adoption Program (CDAP), with a $1.4 billion investment over four years, starting in 2021-22.
This investment will allow ISED to:
- Work with organizations across Canada to provide access to skills, training, and advisory services for all businesses accessing this program;
- Provide micro-grants to smaller, “Main Street” businesses to support costs associated with technology adoption; and,
- Create training and work opportunities for as many as 28,000 young people to help small and medium-sized businesses across Canada adopt new technology.
Funding Streams
This program will provide businesses with two streams of support:
- Stream 1 – Grow Your Business Online: The first stream will be designed to help small businesses digitize and take advantage of e-commerce opportunities. Eligible businesses will receive micro-grants to help with the costs related to adopting digital technologies as well as support and advice from a network of youth digital advisors.
- Stream 2 – Boost Your Business Tech: Some businesses will require more comprehensive support to adopt new technology, and a second stream will be in place for businesses, such as small manufacturing and food processing operations. Support for these businesses will emphasize advisory expertise for technology planning and financing options needed to put these technologies to use.
Funding Information
Successful proposals under this Call for Applications will be awarded a 4 year, non-repayable Contribution Agreement with a maximum value of $45 million.
CDAP – Grow Your Business Online will provide up to $336.8 million funding for:
- Businesses: 90,000 businesses at up to $2,400 each;
- Students: 11,200 students at up to $7,300 each; and,
- Operational costs for intermediaries (maximum of 11% of the total contribution amount based on proposed number of businesses/students project will support).
Eligible Activities
Eligible activities must include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Delivery of financial support (e.g. micro-grants), including assessment, approval, and disbursement, to support eligible small businesses with the costs associated with adopting digital technologies;
- Activities that facilitate capacity building and skills development for small businesses to help them digitize and develop e-commerce capabilities, such as training and education, strategic business and/or financial planning, mentorship and coaching, and advisory services;
- Innovative business development and deployment supports and/or strategies for digital adoption related to e-commerce capabilities;
- Establishing or strengthening inclusive networks among the eligible recipients to share best practices and success stories;
- Communication related activities including marketing, promotion and communication activities to recruit businesses and disseminate information on services that are available;
- Coordinating the collection of qualitative and quantitative data to gather intelligence and insights to inform policy-making, and/or measuring existing entrepreneurship ecosystem supports; and,
- Other activities that support the objectives of Grow Your Business Online.
Eligibility Criteria
- Applicants may apply independently or as a partnership with other organizations to deliver project activities. Eligible applicants must be Canadian incorporated (federally or provincially) not-for-profit organizations and may be:
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- A business and entrepreneur support organization;
- A research/innovation hub;
- An Indigenous organization;
- A business accelerator or incubator; or,
- A consortia of non-profit and for-profit organizations/entities where the not-for-profit organization is the lead proponent (i.e. the holder of the contribution agreement).
- Collaborations among organizations at the regional level are encouraged.
For more information, visit https://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/152.nsf/eng/00003.html