Call for innovation projects in artificial intelligence and quantum technologies: collaborative industrial research and support for entrepreneurship

Eligible customers
Eligible are consortia of Quebec businesses and cooperatives made up of at least one SME or one business with high growth potential.

Eligible startups
To be eligible as a startup , companies must meet the following criteria:

Be legally constituted according to the federal or Quebec laws in force and registered with the Quebec Enterprise Registrar.
Have their head office in Quebec and employees or subcontractors who work mainly in Quebec.
Have 250 employees or less in Quebec.
Not belong, in a proportion of 50% or more, to other existing companies or organizations.
Not having been created as part of a concentration, restructuring, extension of pre-existing activities or a takeover of such activities.
Be led by a founder or a team of founders, at least one of whom is dedicated to it full-time (35 hours or more per week).
Own the rights to use the intellectual property of their product, process or service.
When submitting their application, receive support from an eligible business incubator or accelerator.
Have an establishment in operation in Quebec intended for the production of goods and services or for internal research and development activities.
Have assets of less than $50 million.
Dedicate a significant portion of their resources to developing their business, from the design and development of their product or process to marketing.
Eligible incubators and accelerators
For artificial intelligence projects, eligible incubators and accelerators are:

Technology Business Creation Accelerator (ACET);
Centech;
Creative Destruction Lab (CDL);
District3;
NextAI.
For quantum technology projects, eligible incubators and accelerators are:

Centech;
Technology Business Creation Accelerator (ACET);
Creative Destruction Lab (CDL);
Quantino;
QV Studio.
Eligible SMEs
To be eligible as an SME, businesses must meet the following characteristics:

Be legally constituted according to the federal or Quebec laws in force and registered with the Quebec Enterprise Registrar.
Have their head office in Quebec and employees or subcontractors who work mainly in Quebec.
Have 250 employees or less in Quebec.
Not belong, in a proportion of 50% or more, to other existing companies or organizations.
Have an establishment in operation in Quebec intended for the production of goods and services or for internal research and development activities.
Own the rights to use the intellectual property of their product, process or service.
Have assets (including the assets of associated companies), calculated on a worldwide basis, for their taxable year ending in the calendar year preceding the given calendar year, of less than $50 million.
Eligible large businesses
In order to be eligible for a structuring and large-scale project, companies that do not qualify as startups or SMEs must meet the following criteria:

Be legally constituted according to the federal or Quebec laws in force and registered with the Quebec Enterprise Registrar.
Have their head office in Quebec and employees or subcontractors who work mainly in Quebec.
Have an establishment in operation in Quebec intended for the production of goods and services or for internal research and development activities.
The management of the consortium is entrusted to a sectoral industrial research group This hyperlink will open in a new window.(RSRI), except for projects arising from the AI ​​Confidence initiative, which coordinates the planning, monitoring and control of project activities and costs to report to the government.