BDC LIFT is a $500 million program from the Business Development Bank of Canada, launched in April 2026, that lends Canadian businesses the money to adopt AI, digital tools and advanced equipment, and ties each loan to an advisory plan.
Most of what has been written about it stops at "here is how to apply." This guide covers the terms, but it is written from the other side of the table: what the money can pay for, what a realistic AI project costs, what the loan costs you each month, and what BDC's advisor will want to see from whoever builds it.
Two things up front. LIFT is a loan, not a grant, and it has to be paid back. And I cannot get anyone approved. BDC decides that. What I can do is be the Canadian builder on the other side of the plan, which matters more than it sounds.
Every figure below was checked against bdc.ca on the date in the byline. Where BDC does not publish a number, the page says where the number comes from instead.
LIFT is one program with two tracks. They differ in revenue floor, in what they finance, and in how big and how long the loans run. AI software belongs on the first.
This is the track for an AI build. BDC's published minimum requirements are:
All industries are eligible, with some exceptions that BDC names: suppliers of premises, hotels, and trucking companies with fewer than ten vehicles.
BDC lists what Track 1 can finance: data infrastructure and secure data platforms, cybersecurity tools, readiness work and security audits, ERP and CRM systems, system configuration, AI use-case development and implementation, and training and integration, which BDC calls adoption costs.
Track 2 finances digitally enabled equipment and automation that improves productivity. Its requirements are narrower:
What it finances is hardware: robotics, automation and automated production equipment, network and connectivity equipment, specialized inspection equipment, and renewable-energy and waste-management equipment, plus their installation and integration. If the AI part of a project runs on new equipment, say vision inspection on a production line, the software to integrate it can sit in a Track 2 loan as an implementation cost. A software-only build belongs on Track 1.
If your revenue is under $1 million, LIFT isn't the right door. The NRC IRAP AI Assist contribution often is, and it isn't a loan.
Criteria change. Confirm the current ones on BDC's LIFT page before planning around them.
| Track 1: Digital and AI | Track 2: Equipment | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum annual revenue | $1 million | $5 million |
| Loan amount | $25,000 to $2 million | $350,000 to $5 million |
| Amortization | Up to 6 years | Up to 12 years |
| Capital postponement | Up to 12 months, inside the 6 years | Up to 2 years |
| Plan required | BDC Digital Plan | Productivity plan |
| Rate | Preferential with Canadian suppliers | Preferential with Canadian suppliers |
On Track 1, the twelve months of postponement come out of the six years rather than being added to them. Postpone for a year and you repay the capital over the remaining five, with interest payable from the start.
BDC does not publish a LIFT rate. Its pages say only that preferential rates and terms apply when the technology is sourced from Canadian suppliers or integrators, subject to conditions. At launch, the press reported that rate as 2.25%. The real rate is set when BDC approves your loan, so treat any figure on this page, including that one, as a planning number.
These are standard amortized payments, rounded to the dollar, for a Track 1 loan repaid monthly. The 2.25% column uses the press-reported launch rate, which BDC itself has not published. The 7.00% column is not a BDC figure: it is an illustrative rate for an ordinary commercial loan, there to show what the preferential rate is worth. BDC prices its other loans from its floating base rate plus a variance, and does not post that base rate on bdc.ca.
| Loan | 2.25%, 72 months | 7.00%, 72 months | 2.25%, interest only during postponement | 2.25%, 60 months after 12 postponed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $25,000 | $372 | $426 | $47 | $441 |
| $50,000 | $743 | $852 | $94 | $882 |
| $100,000 | $1,486 | $1,705 | $188 | $1,764 |
| $250,000 | $3,715 | $4,262 | $469 | $4,409 |
| $500,000 | $7,430 | $8,525 | $938 | $8,819 |
Estimates only, before fees, at a fixed rate for the whole term. Over six years at 2.25%, a $100,000 loan costs about $7,000 in interest; at 7.00% it costs about $22,800.
LIFT is not the only BDC loan that can pay for technology. The difference is that LIFT is built for it: it comes with an advisory plan, it names software and integration as costs it finances, and it carries the preferential rate. The general-purpose loans are faster and need no plan, but they price from BDC's base rate.
| Product | Purpose | Amount | Repayment | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LIFT Track 1 | Digital, data, AI and cybersecurity adoption | $25,000 to $2 million | Up to 6 years, 12 months postponement | Preferential with Canadian suppliers |
| LIFT Track 2 | Automation and advanced equipment | $350,000 to $5 million | Up to 12 years, 2 years postponement | Preferential with Canadian suppliers |
| Small Business Loan | Day-to-day operations or a new project | Up to $350,000 | 5 years up to $100,000; up to 8 years above | Floating base rate plus a variance |
| Working Capital Loan | Big projects without draining cash | Set by operating needs and cash flow | Up to 8 years, up to 24 months interest only | Not published |
The Small Business Loan asks for less: $100,000 in annual revenue for loans up to $100,000, and $250,000 above that, against LIFT's $1 million. For a business under LIFT's floor, it is the BDC loan most likely to fit a small AI project. For one above the floor, LIFT is usually the cheaper money for the same work, if the work is in the plan.
This is the question nobody answers clearly. BDC lists "AI use-case development and implementation" and "training and integration (adoption costs)" among the things Track 1 finances, and says financing can go beyond the base cost of the technology to include eligible implementation expenses, subject to review and approval.
In plain terms, a custom AI build done by an outside developer is an implementation cost. The software you license, the work to connect it to your existing systems, and the training for your staff can all sit inside the loan, as long as they are part of the plan BDC's advisor reviews.
What it is not for: general working capital, hiring, or "we'll figure out the AI part later." The loan follows a specific plan.
BDC's Track 1 page says you must work with qualified Canadian AI, digital or integration solutions, and the preferential rate applies when the technology is sourced from Canadian suppliers or integrators. BDC's advisor determines whether a supplier counts as Canadian, and there is no public directory, so it comes down to who you bring to the table.
Syllogistic Software is a Canadian corporation, based near Metro Vancouver, and I write the software myself. If I build your project, the Canadian-integrator condition is met by the same person doing the work.
LIFT starts at $25,000, which is a useful anchor because it is also roughly where a worthwhile custom AI project starts. These are the shapes of project I typically deliver, so you can match a loan size to something concrete rather than to a vendor's slide deck.
A single internal tool that removes one repetitive job. Reading invoices, delivery slips, or forms into your accounting or inventory system. Drafting replies to the common half of your inbox for a human to approve. Built on your data, connected to one existing system, with a review screen so nothing goes out unchecked.
AI woven through a whole process rather than one step. Intake, classification, drafting, and hand-off across two or three of your systems, with reporting on what the AI did and what a person changed. This is the size where most of the measurable savings live, and where an AI Audit beforehand earns its keep.
Something your customers touch, or a system that replaces a category of work across the company. A customer-facing assistant with real integrations, or an internal platform that several departments run on. The portfolio shows what these look like when finished.
Every estimate I give includes what the system costs to run each month, because AI API bills are real and vendors rarely mention them. For most internal tools it is tens of dollars a month, not thousands. I've paid these bills on my own products, so the numbers come from invoices, not guesses.
These are ranges, not quotes. A real number comes from looking at your process, which is what the AI Audit is for.
Each of these is a composite of the kinds of project above, not a client. The monthly figures use the press-reported 2.25% over 72 months, from the payment table. Running costs are operating expenses: they are paid from the business, not from the loan.
A wholesale distributor with $3 million in revenue keys every supplier invoice and delivery slip into its accounting system by hand. The build reads each document, matches it to the purchase order, and puts it on a review screen for a clerk to approve.
An engineering firm with $8 million in revenue receives project enquiries by email, web form and phone notes. The build classifies each one, drafts a first response and a scope summary, files it in the CRM and the document system, and reports what a person changed.
A manufacturer with $20 million in revenue builds an assistant that answers dealers' questions about parts, stock and order status from its ERP and product documentation, with a person reviewing anything it is unsure of.
The budgets are illustrative ranges for these shapes of project, not quotes, and the payments are estimates; BDC sets the rate and schedule.
Contact BDC through the LIFT page or your account manager. They confirm eligibility and start the Digital Plan with their advisory team. This happens on BDC's side and on BDC's timeline.
The Digital Plan goes faster and lands better when you arrive with a specific project rather than a wish. An AI Audit produces exactly that: a ranked list of processes, and a cost and effort estimate for each one.
I provide a written scope with deliverables, milestones, a fixed price or a capped estimate, monthly running costs, and confirmation that the work is done by a Canadian corporation. That is what the advisor needs to fold the build into the plan and apply the Canadian-supplier rate.
Once the loan is in place, I build in stages you can see and use, usually two to four weeks each. You are not waiting six months for a reveal. If something in the plan turns out to be wrong, we find out at milestone one, not at the end.
How long BDC takes from first contact to funds is BDC's to answer, and it varies. BDC says it will call back within 48 hours of an enquiry; the plan and the approval take longer. Plan on weeks, not days, and start the conversation with them before you need the money.
LIFT is a loan, so it combines with programs that don't lend.
I don't write LIFT applications, I don't charge a fee for "helping you get approved," and I don't quote success rates. There is a cottage industry that does those things, and the last federal adoption program showed how that ends.
What I do is build the thing the loan is for, in Canada, to a written scope, and stand behind it afterwards.
A loan. It has to be paid back, with interest, on a schedule agreed when BDC approves it. What LIFT adds over an ordinary loan is a lower rate when the technology comes from Canadian suppliers, a postponement of capital payments at the start, and an advisory plan that comes with it.
At least $1 million a year for Track 1, Digital Transformation and AI, in almost any industry. At least $5 million a year for Track 2, productivity and advanced equipment, and only in the sectors BDC lists, such as manufacturing, construction, wholesale, and transport and warehousing. Both tracks are for Canadian-based businesses, and BDC also looks at financial health, credit history and the project itself.
On Track 1, from $25,000 to $2 million, amortized over up to six years, with the option to postpone capital payments for up to twelve months inside those six years. On Track 2, from $350,000 to $5 million, amortized over up to twelve years, with up to two years before capital payments start.
BDC does not publish one. Its pages promise preferential rates when the solution is sourced from Canadian suppliers or integrators, and at launch in April 2026 the press reported that rate as 2.25%. Your actual rate is set when BDC approves your loan.
Yes, when the build is part of the plan BDC's advisor reviews. BDC lists AI use-case development and implementation, system configuration, and training and integration among the costs Track 1 can finance. On Track 1 the solution or the integrator must be a qualified Canadian one, and the advisor decides whether a supplier counts.
Yes. Track 1 requires a completed BDC Advisory Services Digital Plan, and Track 2 requires an up-to-date plan for productivity improvements. BDC is clear that an approved plan does not guarantee the loan: financing is a separate decision.
About $1,486 a month over six years at 2.25%, or about $188 a month in interest alone while capital payments are postponed. Postponing for twelve months leaves five years to repay the capital, which is about $1,764 a month after that. These are estimates; your rate and schedule come from BDC.
No. LIFT is for Canadian-based businesses. I build for clients across Canada and the US, and a US business would fund the same kind of project another way, usually from operating budget or an ordinary commercial loan.
If you already know what you want built, email me the one-paragraph version and I'll tell you whether it is a $25,000 project or a $150,000 one, and whether it is worth doing at all.
If you don't know yet, the AI Audit is the fastest way to find out, and its report is the document BDC's advisor will want to read.
Either way, the first conversation is free and I will say so plainly if LIFT is the wrong tool for your situation.
Sources: BDC LIFT, BDC LIFT Track 1, BDC LIFT Track 2, BDC Small Business Loan, BDC Working Capital Loan, BDC's launch release, BetaKit on the launch rate. Program details verified . Syllogistic Software is not affiliated with BDC.