How much funding can be received?

Funds up to 50% of admissible expenses, capped at $1500000 per project.

What is the deadline to apply?

The program is accepting continuous intake

Collaborative Industrial Research and Support to Innovative Entrepreneurship — Stream 3

Q: What are Collaborative Industrial Research and Support to Innovative Entrepreneurship — Stream 3's eligibility criterias?

The project must involve a consortium of at least two Quebec-based companies. Each partnering company must hire at least one intern annually for the project. The project must demonstrate significant potential for short-term impact.

Last Update: January 24, 2025

QC, Canada

Support for business clusters to develop large-scale innovation projects

Collaborative Industrial Research and Support to Innovative Entrepreneurship — Stream 3 at a glance

Eligible Funding

Max. $1,500,000
Up to 50% of project cost

Timeline

Open Date : October 1, 2023
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 3 program

Receive up to $1.5 million in funding to cover up to 50% of eligible expenses for structuring projects that highlight collaborative research in AI by a cluster of companies that share project costs, benefits and intellectual property.

Financing terms and conditions

This grant provides substantial funding support designed to foster large-scale innovation projects and entrepreneurial collaboration through AI-driven solutions. The financing modalities are structured to maximize the impact and viability of eligible projects.

Co-financing is offered up to 50% of admissible project expenses, with a maximum funding limit of CAD 1,500,000 per project.
Cumulative government funding for the project can reach a maximum of 75% of total project expenses.

Eligible projects & activities

This grant supports innovative, large-scale collaborative industrial research projects in Quebec that leverage artificial intelligence. Eligible projects focus on product or process innovation from planning to real-world demonstration stages.

Development of new products or processes using artificial intelligence.
Significant improvement of existing products or processes with artificial intelligence.
Projects must employ at least one intern per year per participating enterprise.

Examples of admissible projects:

$ 1,250,000

Developing an AI-driven personalized healthcare system for clinics

$ 1,500,000

Developing an AI-driven predictive maintenance system for manufacturing companies

$ 500,000

Creating an AI-based customer service chatbot for retail businesses

Eligibility criteria of the Collaborative Industrial Research and Support to Innovative Entrepreneurship — Stream 3 program

Eligibility for this grant is determined by specific requirements related to the project scope and collaborative efforts in the field of artificial intelligence.

The project must involve a grouping of at least two Quebec-based companies.
Eligible projects are those that demonstrate potential for significant short-term impacts.
The company grouping must share costs, benefits, and intellectual property related to the innovation project.
Each eligible company partner must plan to hire at least one intern per year as part of the project.
The project must focus on product or process innovation utilizing artificial intelligence from planning to pre-commercialization stages.
The project should either involve the development of a new product/process or a significant improvement of an existing one.
The innovation must present a decisive advantage over current market solutions.
The project must entail a technological or business risk or uncertainty for the company.
There must be efforts in research and development associated with the project.
The project should demonstrate commercial potential if intended for sale.

Who is eligible?

This grant is specifically targeted towards consortia of companies, comprised of at least two Quebec-based enterprises, aiming for significant innovation projects with potential for short-term impactful returns. These projects should involve collaborative cost and benefit sharing among the businesses involved, as well as shared intellectual property related to the innovation. Each partnering enterprise in the project is required to hire at least one intern per year. The purpose of the project should be the development or significant improvement of a product or process using artificial intelligence, with a focus on either organizational improvement or product sale potential. Additionally, projects are expected to demonstrate technological or business risks, necessitate research and development efforts, and showcase strong commercial potential if intended for sale.

Who is not eligible

Based on the grant information provided, there is no mention of specific types of companies that are not eligible for the grant.

Eligible expenses

The eligible projects for this grant focus on the development and improvement of products or processes by leveraging artificial intelligence, in collaboration with multiple businesses. These initiatives require significant R&D efforts and aim to offer competitive advantages in the market.

Development of a new product utilizing artificial intelligence.
Improvement of an existing process with AI integration.
Collaboration among at least two Quebec-based businesses sharing costs and benefits.
Hiring at least one intern per partner business annually.
Real-world demonstration projects up to pre-commercialization phase.

Eligible geographic areas

This grant supports collaborative projects involving at least two companies from Quebec. Only Quebec-based businesses are eligible for this funding stream, reflecting a regional focus on fostering local innovation.

Quebec, Canada

Eligibility criteria of the Collaborative Industrial Research and Support to Innovative Entrepreneurship — Stream 3 program

Yes, there are evaluation and selection criteria for this grant. Below is a summary followed by the detailed criteria.

The evaluation and selection criteria for the grant focus on the project's relevance to innovation, technological risk, and potential commercial benefits. The project must demonstrate significant improvements, collaboration, and alignment with the objectives of the grant program.

Project relevance to innovation in product or process.
Demonstrate a significant improvement over existing solutions.
Involve two or more Quebec-based companies in the collaboration.
Each participating company must employ at least one intern annually.
Share costs, benefits, and intellectual property among participating companies.
Demonstrate potential for significant short-term benefits.
Display technological or business risk and uncertainty.
Necessitate efforts in research and development.
Show potential for commercial success if the product/process is intended for sale.
Adhere to a maximum project duration of 18 months.
Maximize government aid at 50% of eligible expenses, up to a maximum of $1,500,000 per project.
Ensure total government aid does not exceed 75% of total project expenses.

How to apply to the Collaborative Industrial Research and Support to Innovative Entrepreneurship — Stream 3 program

Downloading the form

Right-click on the link to the form.
For PC users: select the option "Save target as" or "Save link as."
For Mac users: select the option "Download link to disk" or "Download linked file as."
Choose the folder on your computer where you want to save the file.
Select the "Save" option.

Opening of the form

Right-click on the form.
Select the "Open with" option.
Go to the program choices.
Select the "Adobe Reader" option.

Submission of the request

Send the signed electronic version of the application to the Ministry, in PDF or Word format.
Send the document by email to the following address: equipe.ia@economie.gouv.qc.ca.
Ensure that you submit the application before October 15, 2023, at 4:00 PM.

Additional information

Outlined below are additional relevant details for this grant:

The maximum aid cap is 1,500,000 CAD per project, which cannot exceed 50% of eligible expenses.
The cumulative aid limit from government sources cannot exceed 75% of the project's total expenses.
The maximum allowable project duration is 18 months.
Applicants must submit their application electronically by the specified deadline.
There are specific software requirements for accessing and completing application documents, namely Adobe Reader version 10 or later.

Documents and links

Collaborative Industrial Research and Support to Innovative Entrepreneurship — Stream 3

Apply to this program

Financing for Quebec cultural exports