PRIMA — Call for Projects

• Letter of intent
• Application form
• A copy of the francization certificate, when applicable
• If the francization certificate is not yet held, one of the accepted OQLF documents: attestation of registration, acknowledgement of receipt of the linguistic situation analysis, or attestation of program application
• Financial forecasts for the duration of the project for startups

Who is eligible?

• Québec research establishments, including universities, CCTTs, and public research centres, may submit applications.
• Québec SMEs with 250 employees or fewer worldwide, including related companies, may participate in the SME component if they are established in Québec and carry out internal production or R&D activities there.
• Large companies may participate in the LC component if they are established in Québec and carry out internal production or R&D activities there.
• Foreign and Canadian companies with no R&D or production in Québec may participate as second or third industrial partners.
• NPOs may be eligible as a 2nd tier company, and startups are eligible if they demonstrate their R&D and production capabilities and their ability to implement the benefits of the research project.

Who is not eligible

• Applicants registered, provisionally or definitively, in the Registre des entreprises non admissibles aux contrats publics (RENA), including subcontractors registered with RENA who are expected to carry out work on the project.
• Applicants registered on the list of companies not compliant with the Francization Process, or applicants that failed to meet their obligations during the two years preceding the application for financial assistance after formal notice related to previous financial assistance from a department or agency of the Gouvernement du Québec.
• Crown corporations, corporations controlled directly or indirectly by a provincial or federal government, and businesses that are majority-owned by a Crown corporation.
• Applicants under the protection of the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act or the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act.
• Applicants whose principal area of business relates to weapons, fossil fuels except activities aimed at a transition to a low-carbon economy, gambling, violent games or combat sports, sexual exploitation, or the production, sale and services related to the consumption of tobacco or drugs, subject to the stated cannabis and industrial hemp exception.

Eligible expenses

• Salaries, treatments, and social benefits for students, postdoctoral fellows, research assistants, professionals, and technicians.
• Student scholarships.
• Materials, consumables, and supplies.
• Purchase and/or rental of equipment (with purchase under $25k before tax, otherwise should be rented).
• Travel and accommodation expenses within limits, including expenses for international travel by Quebec researchers and students (but not exceeding 15% of total eligible expenses).
• Translation and drafting costs for legal documents for partnership consolidation (maximum $10,000).
• Animal facility and platform fees.
• Subcontracting fees with identified subcontractors not listed in RENA.
• Professional fees with justifications for external services.
• Knowledge dissemination costs, including listing and relevance of conferences.
• Monetary compensation for project participation.
• Prototype development.
• Management and exploitation fees of intellectual property.
• Non-refundable portion of taxes.
• Management fees of PRIMA Québec calculated outside the R&D budget and must be paid by the industrial or other private monetary sources.

Ineligible Costs and Activities

• Projects whose main purpose is to support an organization's operations.
• Subcontracts for technical, economic and commercial feasibility studies, in particular for the construction or renovation of a building.
• Commercial and economic activities such as product marketing.
• Subcontracting for market research.
• The acquisition, sale or construction of real estate.

• For projects at TRL 1-3: The scientific component constitutes 70% of the overall score, divided as follows:
• Scientific quality and feasibility of the project: 30%.
• Training and transfer of knowledge: 30%.
• Innovation and medium-term project impact: 40%.
• The economic relevance component constitutes 30% of the overall score, divided as follows:
• Relevance and alignment with industry and team quality: 50% of the economic component.
• Intellectual property strategy and economic impact for the industry and Quebec: 50% of the economic component.
• For projects at TRL 4-9: The scientific component constitutes 60% of the overall score, divided as follows:
• Scientific quality and feasibility of the project: 20%.
• Training and transfer of knowledge: 40%.
• Innovation and medium-term project impact: 40%.
• The economic relevance component constitutes 40% of the overall score, divided as follows:
• Relevance and alignment with industry and team quality: 50% of the economic component.
• Intellectual property strategy and economic impact for the industry and Quebec: 50% of the economic component.
• To be recommended for funding, a project must achieve:
• A score above 70% on the scientific component.
• A score above 50% on the economic component.
• A combined total score above 70%.

• Submit the letter of intent by October 26, 2026 before noon.
• Meet with the PRIMA advisor assigned to the project when the letter of intent is submitted.
• Submit the full project application by December 7, 2026 before noon.

• Projects are evaluated in early March for the fall call.
• Results are announced in March 2027 and, according to the published fall calendar, not later than the end of March.
• When analyzing projects recommended for funding, the MEIE may request additional information from the promoters and companies involved in the project.

• All industrial and academic organizations or public research centres participating in a project must be members of PRIMA Québec at the time the project is submitted and must remain members throughout the duration of the project.
• Related companies are considered as one and the same company in the project when one has the ability to exercise, directly or indirectly, control or significant influence over decisions relating to the financing or operation of the other.
• Hydro-Québec is considered, by default, as a public research center, but it can be considered as an eligible company under certain conditions.
• For certain projects, such as in health, quantum, or instrumentation, an exception to the circular economy objective may be requested when the letter of intent is submitted.