CDAP: Available funding for transforming your business

The real estate and construction sector is both dynamic and demanding. Businesses are challenged by the high costs of labour and materials, inflation and marketplace volatility. Doing everything you can to streamline your operation and make sure you’re able to get decent margins is critical. Canada’s Digital Adoption Program (CDAP) could help.

CDAP allows organizations to access up to $15,000 of government grant money through the Boost Your Business Technology grant. The money can be used to engage digital advisors from MNP and offset the costs of planning your business’s digital transformation journey. It’s ideal for small- to mid-sized businesses looking to become more competitive and profitable through the strategic use of digital technologies.

Why digital transformation

Digital transformation focuses on leveraging modern technology to standardize, streamline and automate processes in order to deliver greater value to your customers and stakeholders. It enables small- and mid-sized businesses to increase sales, improve profit margins and enhance the customer’s experience.

Your real estate and construction business can use digital transformation to:

• Enhance customer service and customer experience
• Make data driven decisions
• Automate manual processes
• Perform cash flow analysis and analyze project profitability
• Ensure the consistency and accuracy of quotations
• Improve work order processes
• Manage inventory
• Track change requests
• Manage timesheets
• Conduct payroll integrations 
• Improve safety
• Enhance cyber security

But in a digital world that’s evolving faster than the speed of light, where do you start? What’s going to give you the biggest benefit? How can you make sure your digital transformation is going to take you where you want to go?

That’s the point of the Boost Your Business Technology grant. It allows you to hire advisors in the digital field who will help you identify your issues, prioritize your needs, and put a plan in place for the future.

Working with MNP

We can help you determine whether you qualify for CDAP funding and which stream would be best for your business. Completing the application with the help of your digital advisor will also help maximize your funding and the likelihood of approval.

Your digital advisor will conduct a business needs assessment to review your operations, current technology and business strategy to identify where you can benefit from digital transformation. The advisor will then identify platforms and capabilities that will support your budget and business objectives and give you a cost / benefit analysis of the top options. Finally, we’ll design a comprehensive digital strategy with steps, timelines and resources to achieve your near- and long-term transformation objectives.

Once your digital adoption plan is developed, our engagement through the CDAP is completed, but our relationship doesn’t end there. As a full-service technology firm, we’ll be on hand to help you implement your strategy. Our full suite of solutions includes industry-leading platforms, relationships with leading vendors and project management expertise.

Businesses may also qualify for a $100,000 interest-free loan from BDC to continue the work of executing your transformation strategy through the Build Your Business Technology Fast-Track option. In addition, you can also apply for a $7,300 wage subsidy to hire either a current student or recent graduate as part of a digital transformation or adoption initiative. In most cases, we’d recommend doing this during the implementation phase, after you’ve created your adoption strategy.

Is CDAP for you?

To qualify for funding, you must be incorporated federally or provincially or be a Canadian resident sole proprietor. Your business must be for-profit and privately owned and have between one and 499 full-time equivalent employees, and you must have annual revenues between $500,000 and $100 million in one of the previous three tax years.

Technology can make a big difference to businesses in the real estate and construction sector. We’ve seen companies using it to:

• Improve communication and collaboration
• Automate repetitive tasks and processes
• Gain deeper insight into key business drivers and trends
• Empower team members across office and field locations
• Create seamless customer experiences
• Improve resilience to cyber and privacy threats
• Analyze data to make better decisions
• Reduce costs and risks of managing technology

CDAP is in place until 2025, however, only $4 billion has been allocated to the program. Businesses interested in harnessing the power of digital technology should apply sooner rather than later.