How much funding can be received?

Funds up to 30% of admissible expenses, capped at $350000 per project.

What is the deadline to apply?

The program is accepting continuous intake

Collaborative Industrial Research and Support to Innovative Entrepreneurship — Stream 2

Q: What are Collaborative Industrial Research and Support to Innovative Entrepreneurship — Stream 2's eligibility criterias?

The applicant must be a small or medium enterprise (PME) with projects in artificial intelligence aimed at the production of goods and services or the execution of internal research and development activities. The project must focus on the development of a new product or process, or a significant improvement of an existing product or process. The project must demonstrate a commercial potential if the product or process is intended for sale and involve technological or business risk and uncertainty for the enterprise.

Last Update: January 24, 2025

QC, Canada

Support for SMEs to develop processes or products in AI technology

Collaborative Industrial Research and Support to Innovative Entrepreneurship — Stream 2 at a glance

Eligible Funding

Max. $350,000
Up to 30% of project cost

Timeline

Closing date : October 15, 2023

Financing Type

Grant and Funding

Eligible Industries

Manufacturing
Information and cultural industries
Professional, scientific and technical services

Grant Providers

Ministère de l'économie, de l'innovation et de l'énergie du Québec (MEIE)
Gouvernement du Québec

Status

Closed

Overview of the Collaborative Industrial Research and Support to Innovative Entrepreneurship — Stream 2 program

Receive up to $350,000 in funding to cover up to 30% of eligible expenses for a product or process innovation project involving AI, from the planning stage through to real-life demonstration.

Financing terms and conditions

This grant provides financial support for innovative projects leveraging artificial intelligence in small and medium-sized enterprises. It offers specific assistance caps and rates to align with the commercial potential and development risks associated with these projects.

Maximum aid amount is $350,000 per project.
Maximum aid rate is 30% of eligible expenditures.
Maximum accumulation of government aid is 50% of the total project expenses, increasing to 75% for projects with research center collaboration or technology showcase projects.

Eligible projects & activities

This grant is intended to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in developing innovative artificial intelligence (AI) projects. The projects should focus on the production of goods and services or internal research and development activities.

Innovation in product or process using artificial intelligence, from planning to pre-commercialization.
Development of new products or processes or significant improvement of existing ones.

Examples of admissible projects:

$ 117,000

Developing a smart traffic management system using AI

$ 72,000

Creating an AI-powered energy consumption prediction tool for smart homes

$ 57,000

Enhancing a retail analytics platform using machine learning

$ 64,500

Creating an AI-based predictive maintenance tool for industrial machinery

$ 79,500

Automating quality inspection in manufacturing with AI

$ 78,000

Developing an AI-driven health monitoring system for elderly care

Eligibility criteria of the Collaborative Industrial Research and Support to Innovative Entrepreneurship — Stream 2 program

Eligibility for this grant is determined by specific requirements related to the company's profile and the proposed innovation project.

The applicant must be a small or medium-sized enterprise (SME).
The project must involve the use of artificial intelligence in product or process innovation.
The project should cover stages from planning to pre-commercialization.
The project must focus on developing a new product or process or significantly improving an existing one.
The innovation must provide a significant advantage over existing market solutions.
The project must involve technological or business risks or uncertainties.
The project should involve research and development efforts.
The project must demonstrate commercial potential if the product or process is intended for sale.

Who is eligible?

Eligible applicants for this grant are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with innovation projects that utilize artificial intelligence in the production of goods or services or in internal research and development activities. The project must involve the development of a new product or process or the significant improvement of an existing one, demonstrate a decisive advantage over existing market solutions, involve technological or business risk or uncertainty, require research and development efforts, and show commercial potential.

Eligible expenses

The eligible projects for this grant focus on the development and innovation of new products or processes using artificial intelligence. They aim to enhance internal R&D capabilities and product commercialization for SMEs.

Development of new products or processes incorporating artificial intelligence from planning to pre-commercialization stages.
Improvement of existing products or processes with significant advancements using artificial intelligence.
Projects demonstrating a competitive advantage of the new product or process over current market solutions.
Initiatives involving technological or business uncertainties requiring research and development efforts.
Commercialization potential for products or processes intended for sale.

Eligibility criteria of the Collaborative Industrial Research and Support to Innovative Entrepreneurship — Stream 2 program

There are evaluation and selection criteria for this grant. The following are the key criteria used:

Relevance of the project to the call for proposals
Quality and feasibility of the project
Economic and social impacts of the project
Capacity and expertise of the project team
Cost-effectiveness of the project
Compliance with regulatory requirements

How to apply to the Collaborative Industrial Research and Support to Innovative Entrepreneurship — Stream 2 program

Download and preparation of the form

Right-click on the form link.
For PC users: select "Save target as".
For Mac users: select "Download link to disk".
Save the file in a folder on your computer.
Open the form with Adobe Reader.

Completion of the form

Fill out the financial assistance application form with all the required information.
Make sure that the form is digitally signed.

Electronic submission

Transform your form into a signed PDF version.
Send the electronic version by email to the address equipe.ia@economie.gouv.qc.ca before the deadline of October 15, 2023, at 4 PM.

Additional information

Here are additional relevant details for this grant:

The grant can be combined with other public funding, with a maximum cumulative aid limit of 50% of total project expenses, and 75% for collaborations with research centers and technology showcase projects.
The maximum financial aid available per project is $350,000, covering up to 30% of eligible expenses.
Projects must involve substantial risk or uncertainty, either technologically or in terms of business, for the applying company.
Dynamic PDF forms must be downloaded and opened with Adobe Reader version 10 or later to function properly.
The deadline for submission was October 15, 2023, at 16:00, indicating the importance of observing strict deadline adherence for future applications.
Applicants must ensure the submitted electronic version of the application is signed and in PDF format.

Documents and links

Collaborative Industrial Research and Support to Innovative Entrepreneurship — Stream 2

Apply to this program

Financial assistance for the demonstration of new technologies in Quebec