BDC launches two programs to bring Canadian AI tools to small businesses

Tasks Mission AI targets

• Preparing quotes
• Processing invoices
• Chasing sales leads

The Business Development Bank of Canada's Mission AI will find Canadian software for tasks small and medium-sized businesses want to automate, and a panel of entrepreneurs will test it.

A second program, AI Studio, will build tools for BDC's own operations; it is led by entrepreneur Raff Paquin, who has worked at Shopify and Lightspeed.

Rarely or never use AI

69 %

A BDC survey found 69 per cent of Canadian small and medium-sized businesses rarely or never use AI.

Background

The programs build on BDC's $500-million LIFT program, which lends businesses $25,000 to $2 million to adopt automation tools.