Amount: up to $2,5 million and $5 million for businesses and non-for-profit organisations respectively.

Canada’s regional development agencies (RDAs) are delivering $200 million through the Regional Artificial Intelligence Initiative (RAII) to help bring new AI technologies to market and speed up AI adoption in sectors across the country. Through this pillar of RAII, FedDev Ontario will support projects that help businesses and organizations to take AI solutions and technologies from the lab to the marketplace.

Eligibility Requirements

Eligible businesses must:

  • Be incorporated and registered to do business in Canada or Ontario.
  • Have at least 1 full-time equivalent (FTE) employee and no more than 500 FTEs.
  • Have at least 1 year of business operations, as demonstrated by your financial statements.
  • Own (or demonstrate that you will own) project IP, have or will secure rights to any IP required for the project, and not infringe on any IP rights
  • Demonstrate a commitment to the responsible development and use of AI.

 

Not-for-profit organizations providing services to businesses must:

 

  • Be an incorporated not-for-profit organization in Canada or Ontario.
  • Have a track record of providing services to multiple businesses in southern Ontario.
  • Have an Intellectual Property (IP) policy, which addresses ownership and protection of IP, and rights to third-party IP if required for the project.
  • Demonstrate a commitment to responsible AI the responsible development and use of AI.

Eligible Projects

For businesses, the Productization and Commercialization pillar supports the following:

  • Projects focused on bringing to market new and innovative AI/AI-driven solutions (at technology readiness levels (TRL) 6 and above).
  • Projects that increase the capacity of developers of AI/AI-driven solutions to grow through market expansion.

Examples of supportable activities could include:

  • Market diagnostics and studies.
  • Data acquisition and management.
  • Development, testing, demonstration and showcasing of technologies/solutions
  • Production expansion / scaling infrastructure needed to support the AI product as it scales to more users.
  • Supply chain integration.
  • Re-shoring or onshoring of development/ production mandates and talent.
  • Sales, marketing and business development.
  • Improving governance and adopting best management practices.
  • Capacity building and training (not duplicative of other government support programs).
  • IP protection and exploitation.
  • Regulatory compliance.
  • Strengthening cybersecurity measures.

For non-for-profir organizations, the Productization and Commercialization pillar supports the following:

  • Projects focused on growing and sustaining AI clusters and ecosystems by supporting SMEs that are developing AI/AI-driven solutions to advance product development and/or commercialization of new applications for entry into (new) markets.

Examples of supportable activities could include:

  • Providing AI expertise, training, mentorship and other advisory supports.
  • Talent attraction and retention activities.
  • Facilitating data access and secure management.
  • Technology demonstration, testbeds and/or supplier showcase events.
  • Improving availability of risk capital.
  • Business development support.
  • Expanding collaborative efforts among industry partners to, for example, reach global markets and/or facilitate supply chain development.
  • Developing frameworks and reports on best practices related to the responsible development and use of AI that could be used to inform legislation, build trust and support stewardship.

Amount

  • Businesses can request up to a maximum of $2.5 million in the form of a repayable, interest-free contribution.
  • Not-for-profit organizations can request up to a maximum of $5 million in the form of a non-repayable contribution.

Deadline

The applications are accepted between October 22, 2024, and December 20, 2024, at 4:59 pm Eastern Standard Time.