{"id":2127,"slug":"rule-canadian-tier-relaxation","title":"Rule — For Canadian businesses, relax vertical tier where adoption is shallow","kind":"rule","scope":"business","status":"current","audiences":["kevin","candid-team"],"topics":["vertical-competitive-tiers","canadian-smb-digital-maturity"],"reference_body":"**Rule:** For Candid's Canadian clients, relax the vertical tier (often by one) in verticals where digital adoption is shallow — especially trades, professional services, and small-town local businesses.\n\n**Why:** CFIB 2025 ([[canadian-smb-digital-adoption-gap]]) — only 10% of Canadian SMBs are \"fully integrated\" digitally; ~1 in 5 has an \"advanced digital profile\" (BDC). The COMPETITIVE FLOOR is lower than US benchmarks suggest.\n\n**How to apply:** A Canadian dentist or plumber may face genuine local-pack pressure in Toronto but face a near-empty field outside the GTA. Calibrate the widget tier accordingly when the user provides a Canadian city.","rationale_body":null,"metadata":null,"links":{"outgoing":[{"slug":"canadian-smb-digital-adoption-gap","title":"Canada — 92% use digital tools but only 10% fully integrated (CFIB 2025)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"}],"incoming":[{"slug":"research-brief-smb-widget-vertical-difficulty-june-2026","title":"Research brief: SMB widget vertical difficulty — two-axis tiering by industry (June 2026)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"}]},"created_at":"2026-06-23T19:16:04.869Z","updated_at":"2026-06-23T19:16:04.869Z"}