Start with the correction that saves you a week of reading. The Canada Digital Adoption Program's Boost Your Business Technology stream, the one every listicle still recommends for e-commerce, closed to new applications on February 19, 2024. BDC's own CDAP page states the program is closed. Anyone still offering to walk you through a CDAP application is walking you toward a locked door.
What replaced it is not one national grant. It is a regional map, and the percentages on that map are better than most owners expect.
Ontario: the $15,000 plan and the $50,000 build
Ontario runs the strongest digital pair we track, and the two programs are meant to be used in sequence. One audience note first: both serve B2B product companies. A shop selling to the public is not who they fund, and the honest place for a consumer retailer to start is the financing section below or our funding fit check.
The Digital Modernization and Adoption Plan covers 50% of eligible costs, up to $15,000, to build the plan itself with a Digital Adoption Consultant from the DCC roster, on a minimum 1:1 match. It funds the roadmap: a technology needs assessment and a digital transformation plan that decides which technologies you adopt and in what order. It does not fund the build.
The build is the Technology Demonstration Program, which reimburses 50% of eligible project costs, up to $50,000, on completion. This is the real e-commerce money. Eligible costs include installing a technology platform including subscription fees, software for inventory, fulfillment and shipping, product databases, sales tracking, customer loyalty and discounts, cybersecurity software or certifications, upgrading an existing technology site for added functionality, and one-time salaries for the technical staff doing the integration. Hardware and its accompanying software can make up to 20% of the grant.
Two limits decide most applications. Website search optimization and social media advertising qualify only when tied to the overall technology implementation plan, never as a standalone project. And a redesign of an existing site is not eligible, only added functionality is.
One more Ontario name you will still find in listicles, Digital Main Street's $2,500 Digital Transformation Grant, is closed right now. We re-check closed programs weekly and list what is actually open in Ontario's programs.
Atlantic Canada pays the highest share, if you sell beyond your province
If you sell beyond your own province, the East Coast has the best percentages we track.
E-tools for Exporting and the Export Market Access Program, both delivered in PEI by LearnSphere, each reimburse up to 65% of eligible costs to a maximum of $15,000, on a minimum project cost of $5,000, so the smallest claim is $3,250. The eligible list reads like an e-commerce invoice: integration of e-commerce functionality, SEO and paid online advertising campaigns, social media strategy and video production, market research and export plan development, translation. EMAP asks you to carry at least 35% of the project yourself.
Export Funding NB matches those terms for New Brunswick: up to 65% of eligible costs capped at $15,000, minimum project $5,000, applicant contributing at least 35%. It names export-focused website additions, integration of e-commerce functionality and AI tools, SEO, paid online advertising, social media strategy and videos. It excludes retail, wholesale and personal services businesses.
PEI also funds the plain online store. Its older Web Presence Assistance grant has been withdrawn, so the live door is Small Business Assistance, which pays 50% of professional fees to a maximum grant of $2,500, with website creation or adding e-commerce for the first time named as eligible, plus a separate one-time $2,500 for first-year marketing, for a maximum of $5,000 in your first year. Funds are limited and awarded first come, first served.
Sector money sits beside it. New Brunswick's Agri-Food Market Development and Access covers up to 50% to a maximum of $15,000 per project and $45,000 a year, including design and enhancement of websites and e-commerce platforms, for the agriculture, agri-food and seafood sector only. Nova Scotia's farm-sector equivalent is closed right now; we re-check it weekly.
The highest reimbursement rate on the map is in northern BC
Northern Development Initiative Trust's Small Business Recovery Consulting Rebate returns up to 85% of eligible consulting costs, to a yearly maximum of $30,000, on a minimum project budget of $1,000. Market development and e-commerce development, transition to digital platforms, and web development as part of consulting are all named. It is restricted to businesses in central and northern British Columbia, the NDIT region, and you pay the consultant first, then claim.
Money tied to who owns the business
Several doors open on ownership, and each one carries that restriction in its own rules.
For women-owned businesses, the WEOC National Loan Fund lends up to $50,000 at a maximum interest rate of Prime plus 4%, with a loan administration fee of 1% or up to $500. It is delivered in Manitoba by WeMB and in British Columbia by WeBC, which serves women and non-binary owners. Digital development, specifically website and e-commerce work, is eligible in both.
For Indigenous women entrepreneurs in North-Eastern Ontario, Waubetek's Micro-Loan Fund offers up to $20,000 in assistance structured as 50% repayable loan, 45% non-repayable contribution and 5% cash equity, its Women Entrepreneurship Loan Fund lends up to $50,000, a straight loan with no grant portion, within a financing package up to $100,000, and a mentorship grant pays up to $3,000 over six months. Digital development including website and e-commerce is on the eligible list.
For entrepreneurs with disabilities in rural Saskatchewan and Manitoba, the Entrepreneurs with Disabilities Program pays up to $750 toward website design, e-commerce setup, social media content, photography or mentorship, with free coaching alongside it in Manitoba. The money goes directly to your service provider, not to you.
When the answer is financing, not a grant
Sometimes the honest answer is that no grant fits and borrowed money is the faster path. Borrowed money is repaid with interest, so it is never a grant, but it is not competitive either.
BDC's Technology Equipment Loan is a term loan to buy technology and equipment, with interest-only payments for the first 24 months and amortization up to 8 years. Creating or updating a website or e-commerce site is named eligible, alongside servers and cloud computing, cybersecurity improvements, and expert advice on online sales. BDC start-up financing lends up to $150,000, and the Inclusive Entrepreneurship Loan lends up to $350,000 with no application or annual fees to businesses at least 51% owned and led by women, Indigenous or Black entrepreneurs.
The rule that costs owners the money
- Approval comes before purchase. Start the work before you are approved and most of these programs will not pay a dollar of it.
- Cost-share means reimbursement. You pay the invoice first and claim it back, so plan the cash for the full amount, not your share.
- Restrictions travel with the program. Region, sector and ownership gates are real, and a strong application to the wrong program still loses.
Almost every one of these applications wants a written quote for the work before anything is approved. That is where we come in: BBN Labs prepares a quote for the e-commerce work the program funds, free, formatted so it can go straight into your application, and we guide you through the paperwork and the deadlines so you don't lose the funding.
Browse the rest of the website, e-commerce and digital programs we track, or start further back with the province-by-province map for a new business.