Maximize Your Business Potential with the CDAP Loan: A Comprehensive Guide to Funding Opportunities
The Canadian Digital Adoption Program (CDAP) is fully subscribed and is no longer accepting new applications. If you have a valid CDAP grant agreement, Red Pill Labs can and will continue to work with you to get funded.
If you don't have a valid CDAP agreement, we welcome the opportunity to speak with you about how we can solve your business problems or technology problems that are holding you back.
The following article will stay online as a resource for businesses with a valid CDAP agreement.
Everything you need to know about the CDAP Loan; your complete guide to the Canadian Digital Adoption Program’s up-to $100K loan from the “Boost Your Business” stream.
Covered in this article:
Terms, Loan Process, and Application Information
“How Much Are You Eligible For?”
“What Can You Use the Loan For?” (Examples included).
Additional resources and help. Click here to speak to an advisor.
What is the CDAP “Boost Your Business” Loan?
One of the attractive parts of the Canadian Digital Adoption Program (CDAP) is the interest-free loan of up-to $100,000 from the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC).
For Canadian companies who meet the CDAP criteria, the 0%, up-to $100K loan can be utilized to fund any items on their Digital Adoption Plan.
Businesses looking to take advantage of the CDAP “Boost Your Business” loan have 5 years to pay back the BDC, after the initial 1-year postponement period. In simple terms, businesses have 6 years total to pay back their loan.
How Much Are You Eligible For?
There are 2 major points to keep in mind when applying for the loan:
Businesses’ maximum loan amount depends on their revenue from the 1 of the last 3 fiscal tax years.
Applicants can only use the loan for initiatives/items listed on their Digital Adoption Plan, and therefore are not eligible for a higher loan amount than the costs included on their Digital Adoption Plan.
Here’s how much you’re eligible for based on your revenue:
If your business revenue is between $500,000 to $5 million:
· Minimum loan amount of $25,000 and maximum loan amount of $50,000
If your business revenue is over $5 million:
· Minimum loan amount of $25,000 and maximum loan amount of $100,000
What Can You Use the Loan For?
Simply put, as long as your loan is used for items on your Digital Adoption Plan, almost anything is covered. Your Digital Adoption plan must be approved by the government before you can apply for the loan. You can check out the full Digital Adoption Plan process here.
Your Digital Adoption Plan has the potential to include strategies on a range of different ways your business could leverage technology. From hardware purchasing to marketing or cybersecurity processes, the possibilities of your Digital Adoption Plan will be unique to your own needs and goals. We’ve included some examples below.
We recommend keeping in mind what you’d like to use the loan money for. This is because, once again, your loan can only be used for items on your Digital Adoption Plan, so it’s essential to be aware of that before confirming your main areas of focus with your CDAP approved digital advisor.
Your up-to $100k loan can be applied to anything from buying hardware or implementing a system/software, to spending marketing. You have a broad spectrum of potential areas of focus to tailor to your own specific needs.
Here’s a list of examples for items you can invest your loan into:
Integrating cloud computing resources
Upgrading cybersecurity software and hardware
Purchasing high-performance servers for better data management
Expanding your company's mobile app development tools
Upgrading office workstations with the latest hardware components
Training employees on using AI-powered customer support systems
Investing in robotic process automation (RPA) software for streamlining tasks
Procuring 3D printing technology for rapid prototyping
Implementing a comprehensive enterprise resource planning (ERP) system
Purchasing licenses for advanced graphic design software for the creative team
Updating point-of-sale systems to improve customer checkout experiences
Expanding the company's e-commerce platform capabilities
Investing in machine learning tools to enhance data analysis capabilities
Training IT staff on the deployment and maintenance of edge computing devices
How to Apply for the Loan?
After your Digital Adoption Plan has been approved by the Federal Government of Canada, your business has 6 months to request a loan from the BDC.
The loan application is different from the Boost Your Business grant, and must be done on the BDC’s website here.
Loan Process
Step 1: Apply for the “CDAP Boost Your Business” grant.
Step 2: Work with an advisor to receive a Digital Adoption Plan.
Step 3: After having your Digital Adoption Plan approved, you have 6 months to apply for a loan.
Step 4: After receiving your loan, you now have a 12-month initial postponement period and 5 years to pay back your loan, interest free.
