BDC Launches Mission AI, Targeting 10,000 Canadian SMEs in Year One

Canada's Business Development Bank of Canada put a number on its AI ambitions on Monday: an initial cohort of 250 entrepreneurs, with what it calls an "ambitious" goal of reaching 10,000 small and mid-sized businesses in the program's first year. The vehicle is Mission AI, a new initiative to get SMEs using AI tools to save time and lift productivity.

The man running it knows the demand firsthand. Dominic Gagnon, founder and CEO of Montreal-based Connect&GO, spoke on a webinar earlier this year about using AI to streamline routine tasks — and got almost 800 LinkedIn messages from other business owners afterward. Connect&GO builds attraction, ticketing and management software for amusement parks, water parks, zoos, aquariums and museums.

"I think all the entrepreneurs I speak with, they want one thing: it's time back," Gagnon said. He was appointed BDC's first entrepreneur-in-residence in April and now serves as managing director of Mission AI, where he'll oversee testing and feedback on Canadian-made AI solutions directly from business owners.

What does this change for Canadian SMEs?

Plenty of owners are curious about AI but short on time, skeptical of the hype, or wary of consultants, Gagnon said. They trust other entrepreneurs instead. Mission AI bets on that peer dynamic: business owners testing tools and reporting what actually works.

The program will only use Canadian-made tools. Gagnon estimates BDC will have roughly 1,000 products to test over the next three months. "What we want to say to Canadian entrepreneurs is you don't need to use always U.S.-based AI solutions. We have really great on-ground solutions," he said.

The pitch is concrete rather than futuristic. Gagnon points to Sadie, an AI-powered receptionist for hospitality businesses that answers calls 24/7 to field questions and take reservations. "It's pretty simple, but we're seeing really fast results and more reservations," Gagnon said. "When the restaurant is full, you don't want to have someone just answer the phone."

Retention is the success metric. Gagnon said the program will track results including time saved, with the explicit goal of avoiding "churn" — businesses must keep using the tools for years, not just trial them once.

A second front inside BDC itself

The bank didn't stop at one initiative. It also announced Studio AI, to be led by technology entrepreneur Raff Paquin. That unit turns the lens inward: Studio AI will look at how BDC can simplify its own processes, make applying for financing and support more transparent, and "dramatically reduce time to money" — the gap between an entrepreneur asking for capital and receiving it.

The backdrop matters. BDC provides loans, investments and advice to businesses with fewer than 500 employees, and as of September it had invested nearly $800 million — directly or indirectly — in more than 300 Canadian AI companies. Mission AI extends that position from funding AI builders to pushing AI adoption among the bank's core clientele.

Where should an owner start?

Gagnon's advice is deliberately modest: pick one task and one tool. "I think the best way is just to start walking," he said. "For me, it's really that. Don't start to run, just start to walk. Start with one task, one tool."

For practitioners, the practical takeaway is a low-friction on-ramp: Canadian-built tools, peer-tested, with time savings tracked rather than assumed. If Mission AI hits even a fraction of its 10,000-business target, it will shape which domestic AI vendors gain traction in the SME market over the next year.