Boost Your Business Technology: Program Guide

The Boost your Business Technology Stream offers financial support to small and medium Canadian-owned enterprises (SMEs), such as small manufacturing and food processing operations, to adopt new technologies.

Grant Deadline

2025-03-26

Funding Amount

$15,000

Type of Grant

Grant, Funding

Sectors

All Sectors

Demographics

Incorporation

For Profit

Perks

Region Restriction

This grant is restricted to whole of Canada

Keywords

student, internship, hiring, Under 30, Wage Subsidies, First come first serve grant, Recent Grad, Training your team, Wage support to tackle business projects, Hiring a new employee, Newcomers

Age Restriction

This grant is age restricted from 18 to 100

Eligibility and Requirements

Support for these businesses will be in the form of grants to offset the cost of retaining Digital Advisors who will develop Digital Adoption Plans tailored to the business. The grant will cover up to 90% of the cost to develop the digital plan, up to a maximum grant payment of $15,000.

To support the implementation of the digital adoption plan, SMEs will be able to apply for a zero-interest loan from the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) (up to $100,000). In addition, the Boost Your Business Technology Stream will make available youth placement wage subsidies of up to $7,300. Eligible SMEs must apply for the work placement, offering a valuable learning experience for a youth.

This program guide will be periodically updated and revised.

1.2  Who can submit an application – eligibility criteria

1.2.1 A director of a corporation or owner of a sole proprietorship, as well as any of their authorized representatives, may submit an application for the Boost Your Business Technology Grant. Applicants are required to attest and certify that their business meets all of the following eligibility criteria:

1. Is a business whose sole proprietor is a Canadian resident
2. Or
3. Is a business incorporated under the laws of Canada or a province or territory;
4. Is a for-profit business
5. Has between 1 – 499 full time equivalent employees
6. 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
7. Is a privately owned business
8. 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)
9. Is a business that respects human rights codes, labour, environment and anti-corruption standards, as well as engages exclusively in legal activities
10. Is not a business that has a class of shares publicly traded on a stock exchange (in Canada or outside)
11. Is not a majority or wholly owned subsidiary or branch or sales office of a multinational corporation (MNC)
12. Is not a business whose revenue model is designed to be economically dependent on non-commercial sources such as direct government funding or private donations
13. Is not a government organization or body (other than an Indigenous entity or body) or an entity in which a government organization or body (other than indigenous entity or band) owns equity interests
14. Is not a not-for-profit entity such as a union, charitable, religious or fraternal organization or business owned by such organizations, nor a business that exists as a fundraising vehicle for charities
15. Is not a business in which equity interests are held by any current member of the Parliament of Canada or any current member of the Senate of Canada other than a business whose equity interests are publicly traded
16. Is not a business that promotes violence, incites hatred or discriminates on the basis of race, national or ethnic origin, color, religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability nor does it trade with countries proscribed by the government of Canada
17. Is not a business that directly or indirectly promotes sexual exploitation or disseminates media content that is sexually explicit
18. Is not a business that has been determined to have pled guilty to or been convicted of tax evasion or a criminal offence

1.2.2 Applicants must meet the eligibility criteria at all times while in the program: from grant application submission to grant payment, as well as the during term of the BDC zero interest loan and the subsidized youth placements.

1.2.3 Applicants must inform the program of any change in their eligibility while in the program.

1.2.4 Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) may validate the eligibility criteria by seeking supporting information and documentation from the applicant at any point in the application process for the grant. The eligibility criteria and application process for the BDC Zero Interest Loan are covered under Part 4 of this Program Guide. The eligibility criteria and application process for the subsidized Youth Placements are covered under Part 5 of this Program Guide.

1.2.5 If ISED determines that the applicant does not continue to meet the eligibility criteria, ISED may terminate the Boost Your Business Technology Grant Agreement. Applicants whose Grant Agreements are terminated will be responsible for paying any and all costs associated with retaining a Digital Advisor under sections 3.2 and 3.3 of this Program Guide. ISED may also seek recovery of funds in accordance with section 3.10 (Recovery of Funds) of this Program Guide.

1.3  Additional documentation in support of eligibility

1.3.1 As part of the eligibility determination process, ISED may ask for additional supporting documentation or assurances such as:

• Assurance that the applicant is in good standing with regard to all federal, provincial, territorial and municipal laws and regulations;
• Corporate documents as the program deems necessary (e.g. articles of incorporation, corporate by-laws and related documents);
• Documents confirming annual revenue levels, such as notices of assessment or other documents issued by the CRA, and/or financial statements (including audited statements) prepared and signed by a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA);
• Documents confirming numbers of full time equivalent employees, such as T4 Summaries, deductions for the Canada Pension Plan, Employment Insurance premiums, and income tax from remuneration or other amounts the applicant pays to employees;
• Confirmation that any person including any consultant or in-house lobbyist who lobbies on its behalf to obtain funding under the program and who is required to be registered pursuant to the Lobbying Act is registered pursuant to that act;
• Confirmation that the applicant has not, nor has any person on its behalf, engaged any person (other than an employee) for the purposes of obtaining program funding and paid, or agreed to pay, that person a commission, contingency or success fee or any other consideration (whether monetary or otherwise) that is dependent upon the applicant receiving program funding;
• Assurance that any former public servant who derives benefit from the Grant Agreement will be in compliance with the Values and Ethics Code for Public Sector;
• Assurance that any former public office holder who derives a direct benefit from the Grant Agreement will be in compliance with the Conflict of Interest Act and Post-Employment Code for Public Office Holders; and,
• Assurance that no Member of the House of Commons or Senate will benefit from the grant.

Part 2 - General instructions for the grant

2.1  General instructions, terms and conditions

Applicants who submit a grant application agree to be bound by the terms and conditions set forth in this Program Guide and the Grant Agreement. In case of any inconsistency between the Grant Agreement and this Program Guide, the terms of the Grant Agreement will prevail.

2.1.1 Applicants must act in compliance with guidelines governing the program as set out in this Program Guide and the Grant Agreement.

2.1.2 ISED has the sole discretion to cancel funding at any point in time with advance notice, in the event that program terms and conditions are amended or terminated, or under other circumstances that are deemed appropriate.

2.2  Failure to comply

2.2.1 Should ISED determine that the applicant is not in compliance with all of the terms and conditions as set out in this Program Guide and the Grant Agreement, the Grant Agreement may be terminated by ISED, at its sole discretion, and the applicant may be required to repay the grant in accordance with section 3.10 (Recovery of Funds) of this Program Guide.

2.3  Disclosure of information

2.3.1 ISED may disclose any information submitted in this application within the Government of Canada or to outside entities (e.g., Digital Advisors, BDC, the Youth Placement intermediary), subject to applicable restrictions associated with privacy, confidentiality and security, for the following purposes:

• To reach a decision on the application;
• To support transparency, accountability and citizen engagement; and
• To respond to requests made under the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act.

2.3.2 Any information (including any personal information) obtained in confidence from any third party by the applicant and provided to ISED under the terms of this Agreement, will be marked as "confidential" by the applicant and the applicant shall ensure it was disclosed to ISED with the consent of the third party. ISED shall ensure that any disclosure of the third-party information is done in compliance with all legal requirements relating to personal information and third-party confidential information.

2.4  Enquiries

All enquiries regarding applications for grants under the Boost Your Business Technology stream must be sent in writing to digitaladoption-adoptionnumerique@ised-isde.gc.ca

2.5  Public announcements

ISED retains the right to make public announcements and to publish the names of funding recipients and the value of their grants.

ISED may request permission from applicants to feature success stories derived from program support for communications purposes.

Part 3 – Grant application instructions and method of payment

3.1  Application submission process

3.1.1 Applicants must submit their grant applications through the CDAP website. Applications submitted in an alternate format will not be accepted.

3.1.2 Applicants may only submit one grant application per business number.

3.1.3 Directors of corporations and owners of sole proprietorships may apply for the Boost Your Business Technology grant. Representatives of those businesses that are authorized by the corporate directors or owners of sole proprietorships may also apply for the Boost Your Business Technology grant.

3.1.4 Should there be technical difficulties accessing or using the web-based system, applicants should contact the program through the Contact CDAP webpage or digitaladoption-adoptionnumerique@ised-isde.gc.ca

3.1.5 Applicants will be asked to submit the following information:

• Username
• User email address
• Business Number
• Legal name of business
• Operating name of business
• Canadian address of the applicant business

Grant Application website

https://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/152.nsf/eng/00043.html#Toc91237825

Contact

+1 403-762-1200