Canada's
Digital
Adoption
Program
Online Grant
How The Grow Your Business Online Program Works
Step1
Eligibility
Your business is eligible if:
- Operate a registered for-profit business (social enterprises and cooperatives included) in British Columbia
- Earn more than 30k revenue in a year OR have at least one employee other than the owner
- Don’t currently sell online or want to make improvements to an existing e-commerce site
- Have a business that is customer-facing
Step 2
Get Connected With Your Ecommerce Advisor
Step 3
Is Your Business Eligible for Grant Funding?
Costs Covered
Eligible Expenses Explained
- To develop a new e-commerce website or add functionality to your existing site (e.g. online reservation/booking tools, online ordering systems, electronic payments)
- Redesign of an existing site is not eligible
- To install an e-commerce platform (including subscription fees/costs)
- To hire a consultant to help with digital marketing strategies for your e-commerce store that could include activities such as website search optimization and social media advertising.
- Your grant cannot be used solely for marketing or SEO purposes; such uses must be tied to an overall e-commerce implementation plan and not a standalone item
- To track and manage inventory and sales, market to customers, offer discounts, maintain a loyalty program, or increase cyber security using e-commerce software
- To pay up to 20% of the total cost of hardware and software
Eligible costs must be directly tied to the sale of goods and services online.
- Internet connectivity
- Shipping of goods purchased through the e-commerce platform
- Purchases made prior to grant approval
- Renewal of digital services such as domain names or software subscriptions (including existing e-commerce subscriptions)
- Signage and printing
- Logo redesign and rebranding
- Owner’s salary or current employee salary for executing the project
- Purchase of land, buildings or vehicles
- Intangible assets such as goodwill, whether capitalized or expensed
- Depreciation or amortization expenses
- Interest on invested capital, bonds or debentures
- Bond discount
- Monthly mortgage, loan and/or rent payments
- Refinancing of an existing debt
- Losses on investments, bad debts and any other debts
- Fines or penalties
- Litigation
- Fees for administrators, including payments to any member or officer of the business’s board of directors
- Opportunity costs
- Hospitality and entertainment costs
- Franchise fees and/or franchise licence costs
- Lobbyist fees
- New capital expenditures
- Consulting fees for submission of CDAP application or any costs not related to the acquisition or set-up of technology solutions
SUPPORT, GUIDANCE, GRANT NAVIGATION
ALACRITY IS HERE TO HELP
Adding an online store to supplement your small business doesn’t need to be overwhelming, intimidating, or take away from your physical business.
Going online is an excellent way to reach more customers, but where do even begin? Fortunately, there’s an easy solution to help you build your new e-commerce platform…
Say hello to Alacrity Canada!
We’re here to help you take advantage of government micro-grants you may not even know are available to you!
Plus, get the guidance you need to get started. Sound too good to be true? It really isn’t!
Frequently asked Questions
Select A Topic Below
Money spent on e-commerce improvements will be reimbursed upon review of receipts and/or invoice copies, with proof of payment.
Micro-grant disbursements require the receipt of both an invoice and proof of payment. The exchange rate can be based on the rate stated on the credit card statement or a copy of the canceled check.
This grant can not be used solely for marketing purposes, as the purpose of this grant program is for small businesses to create new or improve existing e-commerce solutions.
No. All submitted expenses will require both proof of service completed and proof of payment.
Yes. The grant funds are taxable and should be reported on your corporate tax return.
All receipts must be submitted within 90 days from the project start date, receipts must be submitted together for a maximum amount up to $2400 and proof of payment must be provided for each receipt.
The micro-grant can be used to pay a contractor only if the contractor operates an independent business (registered and/or incorporated) that provides digital adoption services. The grant cannot be used to pay an employee’s salary.
Costs can only be incurred from the date on which your application has been deemed eligible.
You can claim your micro-grant within three (3) months of your application being deemed eligible or meeting with the E-Commerce Advisor, whichever date is later. You must provide both your invoice and proof of payment within these three (3) months.
If your business is a consumer-facing business that can be accessed by customers or provides in-person services to customers, it is eligible (so long as all other eligibility criteria are met).
If the business had at least $30,000 in revenue in the last 12 months of operations or since incorporation/registration for businesses that have been in operation for under a year, you are eligible to apply.
A consumer-facing business is a business that sells directly to customers (B2C). Businesses can be a bricks and mortar business or an online business.
The program administered by Alacrity Canada is for businesses with a local B.C. address only. Please see https://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/152.nsf/eng/00011.html for providers in other provinces.
Funding will continue until 2025.
Businesses are asked to participate in follow-up surveys, agree to having their business information shared with the Government of Canada (ISED and Statistics Canada), and agree to their business name being published as a recipient of funding.
Businesses must agree to maintain their digital adoption strategy for 6 months post-intervention.
Stream 1 – the Grow Your Business Online program helps small businesses take advantage of e-commerce opportunities.
- Eligible businesses will receive a micro-grant of up to $2,400 to help with the costs related to adopting digital technologies.
- Access to e-commerce advisors who will advise and help small businesses adopt e-commerce.
Learn more about the Grow Your Business Online program here.
Stream 2 – the Boost Your Business Technology grant helps small and medium-sized businesses with at least $500,000 of annual revenues, adopt new digital technologies.
- Use a free digital assessment tool to evaluate your own digital readiness
- The grant covers up to 90% of the eligible cost of retaining the services of a digital advisor, up to a maximum grant value of $15,000 per SME, to develop a digital adoption plan
- Businesses also have the opportunity to secure a 0% interest loan from the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) to facilitate the acquisition of new technology
Learn more about the Boost Your Business Technology grant here.
Please review the full list of eligible and ineligible expenses in our Program Guide
If the proposal is for improvements and/or something new it may be eligible. However, a replacement of existing features would not be.
Corporate chains, franchises, or registered charities are not eligible.
As the website already has a functioning online shop, expenses related to photography would not be eligible.
The following improvements are examples of eligible SEO costs:
- Keyword Research and Metadata Optimization
- SEO to enable mobile-Friendly Design
- Page Speed Optimization
- Linking – Creating a clearly defined system of internal links that directs both users and search engines through the small business’ content effectively.
Micro-grants will be issued based on the cost of the expense(s) before taxes; tax charges will not be reimbursed.
Only for-profit businesses (including for-profit social enterprises and cooperatives) are eligible for this funding.
Costs can only be incurred from the date on which your application has been deemed eligible.
You can claim your micro-grant within three (3) months of your application being deemed eligible or meeting with the E-Commerce Advisor, whichever date is later. You must provide both your invoice and proof of payment within these three (3) months.
Yes. However, you will be required to declare that the programs are not used to pay the same expense twice, i.e. the funding provided through the Online Shops Program will be used toward expenses not covered by the other programs your business has participated in.
Money spent on e-commerce improvements will be reimbursed upon review of receipts and/or invoice copies, with proof of payment.
Micro-grant disbursements require the receipt of both an invoice and proof of payment. The exchange rate can be based on the rate stated on the credit card statement or a copy of the canceled check.
This grant can not be used solely for marketing purposes, as the purpose of this grant program is for small businesses to create new or improve existing e-commerce solutions.
No. All submitted expenses will require both proof of service completed and proof of payment.
Yes. The grant funds are taxable and should be reported on your corporate tax return.
All receipts must be submitted within 90 days from the project start date, receipts must be submitted together for a maximum amount up to $2400 and proof of payment must be provided for each receipt.
The micro-grant can be used to pay a contractor only if the contractor operates an independent business (registered and/or incorporated) that provides digital adoption services. The grant cannot be used to pay an employee’s salary.
Costs can only be incurred from the date on which your application has been deemed eligible.
You can claim your micro-grant within three (3) months of your application being deemed eligible or meeting with the E-Commerce Advisor, whichever date is later. You must provide both your invoice and proof of payment within these three (3) months.
Ready To Apply?
We're ready to help you get funding!
PROGRAM HIGHLIGHT - CDAP STREAM 1:
This World's Ours
“This World’s Ours is an inclusive centre in the heart of Vancouver providing a safe, social space and a variety of programs for neurodiverse children and families. ALL children are welcome to participate in our programs.”
– Koryn Heisler, ‘This World’ Ours’
Meet Koryn Heisler
“Our major struggles prior to getting our Alacrity grant were understanding different forms of advertising and how to effectively implement them, using SEO to optimize our website and blog, and having a Shopify store for the merchandise we sold from our vendors.”
“Through the grant and access to the online course (Alacrity DMB), we were able to not only learn about how to implement these things but were given the funds to make it possible, especially with regards to advertising. Once we were able to implement Google ads and social media advertising, we were able to see our customer base grow and had new leads. By seeing this positive impact, we then devoted more time and money to advertising in our budget. We are now more confident that we are reaching our target audience.”
“Technology has played a vital role in the growth of This World’s Ours, enabling us to streamline operations, enhance customer experience, and expand our reach. Since inception, the following technologies have been used:
- A new Wix website
- Social Media Advertising
- Google Advertising
- Amilia SmartRec, an online booking system
- QuickBooks
- Dropbox
- Slack
- Shopify/Square
- Email marketing”
Meet Koryn Heisler
“Our major struggles prior to getting our Alacrity grant were understanding different forms of advertising and how to effectively implement them, using SEO to optimize our website and blog, and having a Shopify store for the merchandise we sold from our vendors.”
“Through the grant and access to the online course (Alacrity DMB), we were able to not only learn about how to implement these things but were given the funds to make it possible, especially with regards to advertising. Once we were able to implement Google ads and social media advertising, we were able to see our customer base grow and had new leads. By seeing this positive impact, we then devoted more time and money to advertising in our budget. We are now more confident that we are reaching our target audience.”
“Technology has played a vital role in the growth of This World’s Ours, enabling us to streamline operations, enhance customer experience, and expand our reach. Since inception, the following technologies have been used:
- A new Wix website
- Social Media Advertising
- Google Advertising
- Amilia SmartRec, an online booking system
- QuickBooks
- Dropbox
- Slack
- Shopify/Square
- Email marketing”