Intuit QuickBooks Canada joins tech leaders to help Digital Main Street expand its program capacity nationally, further enabling small business recovery amid COVID-19.
TORONTO, Aug. 13, 2020 /CNW/ – Intuit Canada, a leading global financial platform company known for products such as QuickBooks, TurboTax and Mint, today joins Digital Main Street in their mission to help facilitate getting 50,000 Canadian small businesses online over the next year through the development of e-commerce storefronts. Intuit Canada will also help Digital Main Street advance their online web platform and will enable small businesses to receive direct 1-on-1 support through consultation meetings and online webinar training sessions.
According to a July 2020 survey done by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), just over half (57 per cent) of small businesses are fully open and around half (53 per cent) think it will take more than six months to get back to normal profitability. In Ontario, the government stated that around 40 per cent of small enterprises in the province do not have a website. By adopting and optimizing an online presence, small businesses may be able to avoid permanent closures and continue to reach and sell to customers.
“Now more than ever, digital transformation is key to small business success,” said David Marquis, Country Manager, Intuit Canada. “We are thrilled to be joining Digital Main Street to help Canadian small businesses get online and equip them with important digital skills they need to recover and grow.”
“We are committed to doing everything we can to help our main street small businesses get through this crisis,” noted Toronto Mayor John Tory. “The Digital Main Street program operated by the Toronto Association of Business Improvement Areas (TABIA) would not be possible without the generous community and corporate support of the partners involved. I am thrilled that Intuit Canada is joining the Digital Main Street network today to strengthen the support already in place for main street businesses through this innovative program.”
“Our partners have been at the heart of everything we have done over the last 5 years, supporting over 20,000 businesses across Ontario and now the country,” said John Kiru, Executive Director of TABIA. “With the need for digital adoption amongst small main street businesses amplified by these unprecedented times, we are thrilled to have Intuit Canada joining our network that also includes: Google, Mastercard, Shopify, Microsoft, and Facebook. We are looking forward to working with them to continue increasing our capacity and support resources for the small main street business community.”
Over the next year, this new collaboration will support Digital Main Street initiatives across Canada in the following ways:
- By increasing the capacity of Digital Main Street programming, including supporting advanced development of the online web platform, which is a hub for small businesses to receive on-demand training.
- By supporting the continued growth of the ShopHERE program powered by Google Canada, to help get 50,000 businesses online this year through the development of e-commerce storefronts.
- By increasing the capacity of the Digital Service Squad, enabling SMBs to receive direct 1-on-1 support through consultation meetings and online webinar training sessions.
To learn more about Digital Main Street and the programs and learning opportunities available to main street business owners, visit www.digitalmainstreet.ca
