Closed
Source verified August 4, 2026
Innovation Program — Stream 1 – Support for innovation projects
Quebec innovation support for businesses
Offered by
Funding available
$ 2,000,000
Deadline
March 31, 2024
Opened April 16, 2022
Location
Quebec, Canada
Who can apply
Businesses or groupings of businesses from any sector, legally constituted under Quebec or Canadian law.
See full eligibility
Overview
Programme Innovation Volet 1 offers 30% to 80% of eligible expenses for Quebec businesses, business groupings, and social economy enterprises working on innovation projects. Eligible work includes planning, validation, development, prototyping, testing, controlled or real-world demonstrations, commercialization planning, intellectual property protection, certification, and technological showcases.
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At a glance
Funding available
Financing goals
- Increase performance through digital transformation
- Develop a new product or service
- Conduct research and development activities
Eligible Funding
- Maximum amount : 2,000,000 $
- Up to 80% of project cost
Funds Providers
Eligible candidates
Eligible Industries
- All industries
Location
- Quebec
Legal structures
- For-profit business
- Social economy enterprise
Annual revenue
- All revenue ranges
Organisation size
- All organization sizes
Audience
- All groups
Next Steps
1
Determine your project
2
Validate your eligibility
Activities funded
- Preliminary activities and studies needed to plan and deliver the project, including project setup with partners, response plans to specifications, international support by a specialist, detailed market studies, and technical and financial studies.
- Proof of concept validation.
- Product or process development or improvement, including design, engineering, and prototyping.
- Testing and validation, including prototype testing, pilot production testing, and controlled demonstrations.
- Commercialization planning, intellectual property protection, certification or homologation steps, real-world demonstrations, technological showcases, and specialized support for high-growth innovative enterprises, including regulatory support and access to research or prototyping laboratories.
Documents Needed
- Application form from IQ’s website, with the detailed project description and financial structure.
- Service offers and partnerships, where applicable.
- For an assujettie enterprise, a francisation certificate or one of the OQLF documents: attestation d’inscription à l’OQLF, accusé de réception de l’analyse de la situation linguistique, or attestation d’application de programme.
- For a for-profit enterprise with more than 100 employees and aid of 100 000 $ or more, the declaration of compliance with the Programme d’accès à l’égalité en emploi, plus any other document required according to the nature of the project, including market studies, commercialization plans, and ecoresponsibility documents.
- For a technological showcase or real-world demonstration, or after a call for projects, the last two years of financial statements, two-year financial forecasts and cash flow, and the partnership agreement for the showcase when applicable.
Eligibility
Who is eligible?
- Businesses or groupings of businesses from any sector, legally constituted under Quebec or Canadian law.
- Businesses must be immatriculated in Quebec, have an establishment there, and actively exercise an activity there.
- Social economy enterprises, as defined by the Loi sur l’économie sociale (RLRQ, chapitre E 1.1.1).
- Innovative and high-growth enterprises are eligible if they meet the program’s specific criteria.
- For groupings of businesses, an OBNL charged with project management and follow-up may submit the application.
Who is not eligible
- Applicants listed, provisionally or definitively, in the Registre des entreprises non admissibles aux contrats publics (RENA), including subcontractors listed in RENA who are expected to carry out work on the project.
- Applicants on the Liste des entreprises non conformes au processus de francisation published by the Office québécois de la langue française.
- Applicants that failed to respect obligations after formal notice in relation to previous aid from a Quebec ministry or agency during the two years before the application.
- Sociétés d’État, companies controlled directly or indirectly by a government or municipal entity, companies majority-owned by a state-owned company, companies under the protection of the Loi sur les arrangements avec les créanciers des compagnies or the Loi sur la faillite et l’insolvabilité, and holding companies.
- Applicants whose main business involves controversial weapons, fossil fuels, gambling, violent games or combat sports involving living beings, sexual exploitation, or production, sale, and services related to tobacco or drugs, except interventions related to cannabis and industrial hemp.
Eligible expenses
- Professional fees for specialized services, including subcontracting services.
- Direct labour costs assigned to the project, including benefits and mandatory contributions, and project management labour costs.
- Travel and stay expenses related to the project, including costs for potential clients visiting a technological showcase, when compliant with Quebec government standards.
- Direct material and inventory costs; direct equipment costs; equipment and land rental; and acquisition of studies or other documentation.
- Animal facility and platform fees; intellectual property strategy, protection, rights or licences costs, including patent agent fees; certification or homologation needed for commercialization; exhibition and trade show costs; and for non-profit organizations managing a grouping of enterprises, setup and management costs up to 7% of admissible project expenses, or up to 10% for projects involving an innovative high-growth enterprise.
Ineligible Costs and Activities
- Expenses incurred before the date the complete and admissible file is filed, including contractual commitments.
- Debt service, repayment of future borrowings, capital loss or capital replacement, and any capital payment or disbursement.
- Operating expenses for ordinary activities, capital expenditures, recurring fees such as annual subscription fees and software update fees, and intellectual property maintenance costs.
- Acquisition or development of land, acquisition, construction, or enlargement of a building, transactions between related businesses or partners, and Quebec sales taxes.
- Commercialization expenses, except for technological showcase projects or expenses related to preparing a commercialization plan; interventions are not authorized for projects concerning recreational products, medical products not approved by Santé Canada, or additional cannabis products such as food ingredients, transformed food products, topical products, concentrates, tinctures or capsules.
Eligible geographic areas
- Quebec
Selection criteria
- The project’s innovative character and the advantage of the product or process over existing market solutions.
- Market potential and, where applicable, pre-commercialization planning.
- Strength of current or planned intellectual property rights and the IP strategy in place.
- Feasibility, including risk or uncertainty, R&D effort, quality and realism of the implementation plan, and the company’s financial and human resources.
- Relevance to the business model, quality of partners and support organizations, financing structure, expected impacts and socio-economic returns, alignment with ministerial and sectoral priorities, and sustainable development principles.
How to apply
- Complete the IQ application form and attach the detailed project description and financial structure.
- Include service offers and partnerships, if applicable, and provide the other required documents when the file concerns an assujettie enterprise, a technological showcase or a real-world demonstration, or follows a call for projects.
Processing and Agreement
- Requests are processed and analyzed once the required documents are provided, subject to budget availability and compliance with the program.
- IQ and the Ministry may limit the number of selected requests to respect the budget envelope, and projects are approved according to the authorization levels determined by the responsible minister.
- Assistance is confirmed by a financial assistance agreement between the parties, and the Ministry may also join the agreement when necessary.
- Payments can be made in up to three installments per government financial year; the first may be an advance up to 50% of the aid, or up to 70% for innovative high-growth enterprises; subsequent installments require expense statements and supporting documents; the final installment is paid on delivery of the final activity and financial reports and must represent at least 15% of the aid.
- The beneficiary must submit a results evaluation form at the end of the project, may later have to submit a longer evaluation form up to three years after the project, and the Ministry may require an external audit report.
Contacts
Other components of this program
Explore related funding streams and grants that belong to the same program.
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- Innovation Program — Stream 2 – Support for mobilising projectsCollaborative innovation support for aerospace technologies
Frequently Asked Questions about the Innovation Program — Stream 1 – Support for innovation projects Program
What is the Innovation Program — Stream 1 – Support for innovation projects?
Programme Innovation Volet 1 offers 30% to 80% of eligible expenses for Quebec businesses, business groupings, and social economy enterprises working on innovation projects. Eligible work includes planning, validation, development, prototyping, testing, controlled or real-world demonstrations, commercialization planning, intellectual property protection, certification, and technological showcases.
How much funding can be received?
Innovation Program — Stream 1 – Support for innovation projects Funds up to 80% of admissible expenses, capped at $2,000,000 per project.
What is the deadline to apply?
The application deadline for this grant program was March 31, 2024.
Who is eligible for the Innovation Program — Stream 1 – Support for innovation projects program?
To be eligible for the Innovation Program — Stream 1 – Support for innovation projects program, you must:
Businesses or groupings of businesses from any sector, legally constituted under Quebec or Canadian law, and immatriculated in Quebec with an establishment and active operations there, are eligible.
Social economy enterprises, as defined by the Loi sur l’économie sociale (RLRQ, chapitre E-1.1.1), are eligible.
Innovative and high-growth enterprises may apply if they meet the program’s specific criteria.
What expenses are eligible under Innovation Program — Stream 1 – Support for innovation projects?
Preliminary activities and studies needed to plan and deliver the project, including project setup with partners, response plans to specifications, international support by a specialist, detailed market studies, and technical and financial studies.
Proof of concept validation.
Product or process development or improvement, including design, engineering, and prototyping.
Testing and validation, including prototype testing, pilot production testing, and controlled demonstrations.
Commercialization planning, intellectual property protection, certification or homologation steps, real-world demonstrations, technological showcases, and specialized support for high-growth innovative enterprises, including regulatory support and access to research or prototyping laboratories.
Who can I contact for more information about the Innovation Program — Stream 1 – Support for innovation projects?
You can contact Investissement Québec (IQ) or by phone at 1 844 474-6367.
Where is the Innovation Program — Stream 1 – Support for innovation projects available?
The Innovation Program — Stream 1 – Support for innovation projects program is available the province of Quebec.