Short application window gives northern BC businesses until October 15 to seek grants of up to $200,000 for technology adoption, productivity and market expansion
VANCOUVER, British Columbia — September 2, 2026
As Canadian businesses respond to tariffs and changing global trade relationships, a new British Columbia funding program opening today could help northern B.C. companies invest in technology and reach new markets.
The Business Diversification and Sustainability (BDS) program will provide $1.8 million to eligible small and medium-sized businesses in northern British Columbia. Companies can apply for grants of up to $200,000, covering as much as 75 per cent of eligible project costs.
Funding can support equipment purchases, technology adoption and projects designed to expand markets, introduce new products or services, increase productivity and strengthen business operations. But businesses interested in the program need to move quickly.
A Digital Route to New Markets
For Canadian manufacturers considering market diversification, Picturethis3D believes technology can help reduce one of the traditional barriers to entering a new market: establishing a physical presence before customers have had an opportunity to experience the products.
Picturethis3D’s Spatial Commerce platform is being developed to connect accurate digital representations of real properties with real products. Furniture, cabinetry, flooring, lighting, building products and other products can be digitized and presented inside exact digital replicas of customer living spaces.
Instead of requiring a manufacturer to establish a showroom in every new market before consumers can meaningfully experience its products, Spatial Commerce creates another route.
“For a manufacturer looking at diversification, the question isn’t simply where else can we sell our products,” said Richard Hillier, co-founder of Picturethis3D. “It’s how do we reach customers in those markets economically? We believe Spatial Commerce can help Canadian manufacturers begin building that connection digitally.”
Picturethis3D calls the broader vision Commerce Without Borders. The objective is not to eliminate tariffs, shipping, customs or other realities of international trade. It is to use technology to reduce dependence on geography, traditional distribution channels and any single market.
Funding Creates an Immediate Opportunity
The BC program is particularly noteworthy because technology adoption and market expansion are expressly among the activities the funding is intended to support.
Picturethis3D is inviting eligible northern B.C. manufacturers considering a BDS application to explore whether Spatial Commerce could form part of a broader digital market-diversification project.
Eligibility and funding decisions remain entirely with the program administrator, and businesses should confirm that proposed expenditures qualify before applying.
The October 15 deadline leaves only six weeks to identify a project, determine eligibility and prepare an application.
Follow the Canadian Trade Diversification Hub
The BDS program is one of a rapidly growing number of federal and provincial initiatives responding to tariffs, trade uncertainty and Canada’s push toward greater market diversification.
Picturethis3D has established the Canadian Trade Diversification Hub to track consequential developments across Canada, including:
Tariff relief • Grants and financing • Export programs • Trade missions • New market opportunities • Technology-adoption programs • Federal and provincial diversification initiatives
The Hub focuses not simply on what happened, but why it matters and what Canadian businesses can do next.
For up-to-the-hour information on meaningful trade-diversification opportunities, programs and deadlines, visit the Picturethis3D Canadian Trade Diversification Hub.
Businesses can review the official BC announcement through the Government of British Columbia.
About Picturethis3D
Picturethis3D is a Canadian technology company developing Spatial Commerce, a property-first approach connecting real properties with real products, services and purchasing decisions in accurate digital environments. Its broader Commerce Without Borders initiative is designed to help create additional digital routes between manufacturers and consumers while supporting Canadian businesses seeking greater market diversification.
