Grants to Help Your Technology Projects
We aren’t going to lie, technology projects can be expensive.
Fortunately, grants can help offset the costs of these important projects.
There’s more than meets the eye when implementing new tech into a business. The cost of researching, developing, and implementing a technology solution into an organization can reach fairly high amounts. Before you know it, you may have met your budget.
There are lots of supports offered within Canada that can help the adoption of cutting-edge technology for an organization. New technology can range from encrypted databases for the protection of customer information to the creation of websites that can help revamp the online footprint of a brand. Grants can be the best option for funding a new technology solution within your organization.
The next step is the tricky part: finding the right grant. There was $26 billion available in government grants last year and only 4.9% of the eligible funding was accessed by businesses (Granted Consulting, 2022). That’s a huge amount that is left unclaimed.
It’s understandable as some grants go unseen due to poor marketability of some funding programs. Researching, applying, and reporting can take a solid chunk of time and some organizations might not have the capacity to put energy into a funding stream that is not guaranteed.
Today we bring you good news; we’ve done some of the research for you so you don’t have to (or at least lighten the research load).
Below are some of our favourite grant and support opportunities for businesses, Indigenous entities, and non-profits for the 2022/ 2023 business year.
Best BC specific tech grant
This is a fund that supports SMEs (Small, Medium-sized Enterprises) and non-for-profit organizations who are specifically looking to future-proof their business by improving their productivity through digital adoption. This means increasing digital infrastructures such as websites, applications, and systems that can provide betterment for the company.
Funding is not limited to a specific amount, as Canada’s Regional Development Agencies (RDA) such as PacificCan, will provide $700 million to applicable organizations in Canada over a span of 3 years – there is a good chance of support for many agencies that might be seeking it.
This grant is also providing support for companies who are looking to transition to a green economy, foster an inclusive recovery, and strengthen capacity in sectors critical to Canada’s recovery and growth.
Better yet, Indigenous applicants may be able to have up 100% of their funding needed through this grant. While funding is regional to BC, The Growth Fund is federally funded and does have similar alternatives for businesses or organizations operating in other provinces and territories.
To apply or discover more information about this grant, click here.
Grant aimed at medium businesses
Aimed at medium businesses only, this grant provided by the Canadian Digital Adoption Program (CDAP) is designed to provide technology needs and supports ranging from implementation of new technology training to having digital technologies developed. The grant will cover up to $15,000 and also cover 90% of the cost incurred from hiring a digital advisor if needed for the adoption and recommendation of new technologies.
There is also the opportunity to receive a 0% interest loan of up to $100,000 from the Business Development Bank of Canada upon successful application of this grant.
To meet the needs of this grant the organization must have between 1-499 employees, be a for-profit/ privately owned business, be incorporated federally/ provincially, or be a Canadian resident sole proprietor. Lastly, the business must have at least $500,000 of annual revenues in one of the three previous tax years.
At a first glance, this does leave out businesses that may not make the sustaining revenue necessary for the grant mentioned above. Fortunately, CDAP does offer the opportunity for smaller businesses to receive a micro-grant of $2,400 towards growing their business online. This can be used towards increasing search engine optimization (SEO), website development, and online marketing.
Click here to view more information and how to apply for the Boost Your Business Technology support.
Support for Indigenous businesses affected by COVID-19
For Indigenous businesses that felt the impact of COVID-19 on business and revenue, this grant is designed to relieve some of the financial pressure of implementing strategies and development to survive the new economy.
First Nations, Inuit or Métis-led, community-or collectively-owned businesses are welcome to apply for this grant to receive a sum of funding. Similar to the Jobs Growth Fund, the funding amounts for this grant are not limited to an amount as the entire fund has approximately $117 million in support for Indigenous-owned businesses.
The fund supports the operation of the businesses as well as costs to support the adaptation, planning and reopening of businesses. Useful use of this funding can be used to provide new online systems for employees to work remotely, revitalize websites for better traffic and consumer use, and/ or development of back-end systems to help automate online store purchases for e-commerce.
In order to qualify for this grant, the business:
- is First Nations, Inuit or Métis community-or collectively-owned
- is located in the provinces (businesses that operate in the territories can apply for the Northern Business Relief Fund)
- has been in operation since October 1, 2019
- has either incurred a negative financial impact due to COVID-19 or that financial support will prevent layoffs, bankruptcy or permanent closure
- has been solvent, financially viable, and not declared bankrupt prior to the economic disruptions associated with COVID-19
There is no funding deadline and applications are being accepted on an ongoing basis until all funding has been allocated. To view more information or to apply for the Indigenous Community Business Fund, click here.
While we have identified our top picks, there are still a ton of potential grants to select from. The Business Benefits Finder is a useful tool that can help narrow the search for grants that are applicable to your organization and initiative.
Not only can you search for grants, you can also look for investments, tax credits, partnerships and more through this tool.
The Business Benefits Finder creatively finds your requirements by asking you to “tell your story” of what benefits you are trying to allocate, the basis of your organization, and what goals you’re trying to achieve with financial support.
Now you may have found the desired grant the next step is applying for it. The application process for grants is not always the same, and some may seem to have more hoops and steps than others. It can lead some teams to be intimidated or miss grant deadlines due to the time in filling out applications and reading details.
Fortunately, the group Granted Consulting is dedicated to helping organizations apply for grant funding, making sure the grants meet the need of the organizations applying and helping with grant reporting.
While their specialty is in applying for government-funded grants, they provide a grant calculator tool that allows applicants to find out how much funding they could receive.
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