In an unexpected announcement to Canadian SME’s, the Canadian government has shut down the Canada Digital Adoption Program (CDAP) Boost Your Business Technology Stream.

The news leads many caught-off-guard businesses and businesses owners to ask the question: now what? Here are 2 options.

Before we cover the options, a quick recap. The program was launched on March 31, 2021, with $4b funding and a four-year timeline. However, in less than 3 years, on Feb. 16, 2024, the government announced the program was closing, catching many business owners and CDAP advisors by surprise.

On February 19th, 2024, the government announced CDAP was officially closed to new applicants.

CDAP Uptake

According to the Canadian government, only $274 million was awarded in microgrants and business-plan grants, with approximately 5,000 businesses receiving interest-free loans from the Business Development Bank of Canada, representing a total of only $280 million in loans being awarded. 

The government purports the program to be a massive success, but for some businesses the opposite is true. We heard from many businesses they found the program to be appealing only to be hampered by an overly complex application process and very slow communication from the CDAP team.  Many interested businesses gave up on the application due to frustration.

For the businesses that successfully applied, the CDAP program was hugely beneficial. VP of Corporate Development, James Bradley, spoke on the premature closure of CDAP when it was officially announced: “It was truly a delight to work with smaller businesses across different industries and niches. I believe, with CDAP, we were able to make a positive and measurable impact and form long-lasting relationships with some very interesting companies. Feedback from our CDAP clients was very positive, evidenced by our 9/10 NPS score, which provides great pride and motivation for our team.”

Ongoing support for digital transformation

Digital transformation is critical for small to mid-sized businesses. Red Pill Labs continues to provide comprehensive and cost-effective digital transformation solutions through various programs. Digital transformation programs available from Red Pill Labs includes:

1. Free Digital Growth Toolkit and Workshops - A single day, mini-executive retreat, for eligible businesses to select 4 areas of their business of their choosing (for example marketing, finance, reporting, operations, AI (Artificial Intelligence), Power Automate, etc.), the retreat includes up to 4 workshops.  

2.  Free HR Audit - Frequent changes in the rules and regulations of HR functions might mean your policies and processes are outdated, leaving you open to risk. A free HR audit from Red Pill Labs will evaluate your current human resources policies and procedures, documentation, and systems.

3. Digital Maturity Assessment - This framework assesses and understands your company's current level of digital maturity. When the assessment is completed, we provide a custom roadmap to reach you digital maturity goals, plan for growth, and measure success.

Details coming shortly but you can obtain information now by contacting Jamesbradley@redpilllabs.com.