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Open · Rolling intake Non-repayable

NRC IRAP.

Industrial Research Assistance Program

$75K – $1M

Non-repayable funding for tech R&D. IRAP covers up to 80% of internal salaries and up to 50% of subcontractor costs on eligible innovation projects. Well-suited to custom AI and novel software development.

Talk to us Check eligibility

Who qualifies

Eligibility checklist.

Your business must meet all of these criteria.

Incorporated, for-profit SME Privately owned, fewer than 500 FTE employees.
Based in Canada Canadian permanent establishment.
Technical / scientific uncertainty Project pursues non-trivial innovation or new capability.
Growth-oriented Commercial plan and capacity to scale after R&D concludes.
Not eligible

You must be matched with an NRC Industrial Technology Advisor (ITA) before funding is discussed. We help position the project and build the technical narrative.

Eligible services

What's covered.

Our services map to IRAP-eligible subcontractor expenses (up to 50%).

Custom AI application development Novel model architectures, retrieval systems, agentic pipelines.
Novel software & platform engineering Systems that solve real technical uncertainty — not off-the-shelf features.
Prototyping & experimental builds Hypothesis-driven iteration, instrumentation, and technical write-ups.
Data & ML infrastructure Training pipelines, evaluation harnesses, and experiment tracking.

Process

How to apply.

IRAP is relationship-led. Expect a multi-month path to approval.

  1. 1

    Scope the innovation

    We define the technical uncertainty, proposed approach, and measurable outcomes.

  2. 2

    ITA introduction

    You are assigned an Industrial Technology Advisor. They evaluate fit and guide scope.

  3. 3

    Formal proposal

    Technical narrative, budget, and workplan submitted via IRAP. We supply the engineering detail.

  4. 4

    Review and approval

    Typical decision: 2–4 months. Approved projects sign a Contribution Agreement.

  5. 5

    Build, report, and claim

    Execute the workplan with milestone reporting. IRAP reimburses eligible salaries and subcontractor costs on claim.

FAQ

Questions, answered.

What counts as technical uncertainty?

Work where the outcome is not predictable from existing public knowledge or off-the-shelf tools. Wiring up an existing API usually does not qualify. Building a novel model, retrieval pipeline, or agent that pushes the state of practice often does.

How much of your invoice can be reimbursed?

Subcontractor costs are typically reimbursed up to 50%. Internal salaried R&D labour up to 80%. Final rates are set in the Contribution Agreement.

Do I need an ITA before applying?

Yes. IRAP is gated on ITA engagement. We help you prepare the pitch and respond to technical questions once assigned.

Can SR&ED and IRAP stack?

They are complementary but cannot reimburse the same dollar twice. Many clients use IRAP for the current fiscal year and claim SR&ED on the remainder.

R&D · Non-repayable

Fund the AI or software you cannot build off-the-shelf.

Let us shape the technical narrative and package it for your ITA.

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