Mr. Speaker, with regard to (a), the program was announced in Budget 2021 (April 19, 2021) with ambitious targets to support all small and medium sized businesses across Canada looking to adopt digital technologies. Although uptake was slower to ramp up in the first year, the Canada Digital Adoption Program saw continued growth in the number of signed grant agreements month over month throughout 2023, and into early 2024. Increased demand combined with reductions under the Refocusing Government Spending initiative announced in Budget 2023 resulted in the program being fully subscribed to the end of the program.
With regard to (b), due to the overwhelming demand, combined with these budget reductions, the Boost Your Business Technology grant was fully subscribed on February 19, 2024, and the program subsequently closed intake for new applications.
With regard to (c)(i), since the program launched in March 2022, about 56,000 businesses have benefited from a Digital Needs Assessment.
With regard to (c)(ii), over 36,500 businesses signed grant agreements since the program launched.
With regard to (c)(iii), since launch, the Boost Your Business Technology grant has disbursed over $260 million in grants to over 18,000 businesses. Those grants remaining are either currently being processed by the program or the businesses are continuing to work with digital advisors on developing their digital adoption plans. As of February 19, 2024, The Boost Your Business Technology grant is no longer accepting new applications.
With regard to (d), as of January 31, 2024, the Business Development Bank of Canada has provided over $314 million in loans to over 5,500 businesses who have an approved Boost Your Business Technology grant.
Note that aggregate data from program intermediaries for the Grow Your Business Online funding stream, Magnet, and the Business Development Bank of Canada is reported to the Canada Digital Adoption Program on a monthly basis.
As a result, aggregate data for Grow Your Business Online and Magnet is available as of February 21, 2024. Aggregate data for the Business Development Bank of Canada is available as of January 31, 2024.
Data for the Boost Your Business Technology funding stream is available daily, and is up to date as of the date the request was made.
With regard to (e)(i), as of February 21, 2024, under the Boost Your Business Technology stream, there have been a total of 1,094 work placements through Magnet.
With regard to (ii), as of February 21, 2024, service providers delivering the Grow Your Business Online grant have supported approximately 4,000 youth placements.
With regard to (f), approximately $8 million has been provided to Magnet to date, covering wage subsidy payments to medium-sized enterprises, direct delivery costs such as providing training to youth to prepare them for their work placements, and administrative costs.