AI for All Funding: What IRAP Funds for AI

Canada's AI for All strategy set a national goal to lift business AI adoption from about 12 percent to 60 percent by 2034. For the businesses building AI rather than buying it, the federal program is NRC IRAP. It funds developing, adapting, or validating AI in your core product, not simply buying a tool, with non-repayable funding plus advisor support for incorporated Canadian businesses up to 500 employees. You start with an advisor, not an online form.

Last verified: 2026-06-18. Attainment is not affiliated with BDC or the Government of Canada.

Canada's national AI strategy, AI for All (ISED), set a goal to raise business AI adoption from about 12 percent today to 60 percent by 2034, and names adoption levers like BDC LIFT and the SR&ED tax credit to get there. But the federal program for businesses building AI rather than buying it is NRC IRAP. That single distinction, building versus buying, decides whether IRAP is the right route for your project. IRAP, the National Research Council's Industrial Research Assistance Program, gives non-repayable funding and hands-on advisory support to Canadian small and medium-sized businesses developing innovative, technology-driven products. For AI, that means developing, adapting, and validating AI in your core product, not a grant to cover an AI subscription.

This is the honest version of a question that gets muddied by funding-consultant marketing. A KPMG survey released in November 2025 found 93 percent of Canadian companies use AI but only 2 percent see a return, because most are adopting existing tools rather than building anything. IRAP is built for the businesses doing the building. If that is you, it is one of the strongest federal programs for it. If it is not, another route fits better.

This guide covers where IRAP sits relative to AI for All, what it actually funds, who qualifies, how the AI Assist program fits, and how to start, without the inflated figures that circulate on aggregator sites.

Where does IRAP sit relative to AI for All?

AI for All set the national adoption goal and names levers like BDC LIFT financing and the SR&ED tax credit. IRAP sits alongside them as Canada's main innovation-funding program for the build-and-commercialize route: developing and adapting AI into what you sell, including through the AI Assist program (Budget 2024, 100 million dollars over five years). If your AI work is a product you are creating or advancing, IRAP is the federal program for it. If you are adopting a tool to run your operations, it is the wrong one, and that is worth knowing before you spend a week on it.

What is NRC IRAP, briefly?

IRAP is the National Research Council of Canada's Industrial Research Assistance Program, described by the NRC as "Canada's leading innovation assistance program for small and medium-sized businesses." According to the NRC, it provides three things: advice, connections, and funding. The funding is a non-repayable contribution, not a loan, applied toward the research and development of innovative, technology-driven products and services, such as salary and contractor costs.

Crucially, the NRC states IRAP does not fund day-to-day operating costs, non-technical or purely commercial activities, work done outside Canada, or research with limited commercialization potential. That list is the fastest way to see whether your project fits.

Does IRAP fund AI projects?

Yes, when the AI work is development or adaptation with a commercial path. The NRC says IRAP supports SMEs undertaking scientific research, product development, testing and validation of AI technologies, helping them incorporate generative AI and deep learning into their core products and services. There is also a dedicated AI Assist program, backed by Budget 2024 with 100 million dollars over five years, to help SMEs develop and adapt generative AI and deep-learning solutions.

What IRAP does not do is hand you money to buy an AI subscription. Pure adoption of an off-the-shelf tool, with no development or adaptation, is the purely commercial activity the program excludes. The dividing line is the same one that matters across every Canadian AI funding route: are you building something, or buying something.

Who qualifies for IRAP?

To qualify, the NRC states a business must be incorporated, for-profit, and operating in Canada, employ up to 500 full-time-equivalent people, and be developing and commercializing innovative, technology-driven products or services. You will typically need a CRA business number, a business plan, financial statements, ownership details, and team backgrounds.

The 500-employee ceiling makes IRAP genuinely a small and medium-business program, not an enterprise one. The harder filter is the innovative, technology-driven product requirement: IRAP funds firms creating or advancing technology, not firms simply running operations with technology.

How much does IRAP fund, and how do you get it?

IRAP funding varies by stream. The NRC's own program evaluation cites financial assistance ranging from 50,000 dollars to 10 million dollars across its streams, which include a fast-tracked process for smaller projects and a path for large projects. Be cautious with the fixed percentages and dollar caps you see on consultant blogs; many are tied to specific international calls, not the core program. Confirm any figure with the NRC.

You do not apply online for a substantial IRAP project. The path is advisor-led: you contact NRC IRAP, meet a Client Engagement Advisor, and potentially work with an Industrial Technology Advisor who assesses your project. The NRC is explicit that working with an advisor or being invited to submit a proposal does not guarantee funding. Treat the advisor conversation as the real starting line.

IRAP, SR&ED, or LIFT: which funding route fits?

Canada's AI funding splits into three routes, and they fund three different things. The right one depends on what your AI work actually is.

If your AI work is	The funding route	Why
Developing or adapting AI into your core product to grow	NRC IRAP	Non-repayable funding for innovation with a commercial path
Resolving genuine technological uncertainty (novel model, no known solution)	SR&ED	Tax credit for R&D that advances technology
Adopting an existing tool to fix an expensive workflow	BDC LIFT financing	Funds adoption, not development

IRAP and SR&ED can even apply to different parts of the same year's work, but neither is a grant for simply buying and running a tool. Decide what you are doing before you choose which funding route to pursue.

How do I decide before approaching IRAP?

Decide by defining the project plainly first. Before you call an advisor, run your AI work through The Workflow Funding Test, the framework we apply at Attainment for deciding whether a workflow is worth adopting AI into and financing. It clarifies whether you are building a product (IRAP territory) or fixing an internal workflow with an existing tool (a LIFT conversation).

The Workflow Funding Test, four questions:

Cost: does the workflow eat measurable time or leak revenue every week?
Repetition: does it run often enough that fixing it compounds?
Result: can you define success in dollars or hours before choosing a tool?
Payback: does the return beat the cost to build and run it?

If your project is "we are developing or adapting AI as part of the product we sell," IRAP is worth a call. If it is "we are adopting a tool to fix how we operate," that is financing, not IRAP. Walking into the advisor conversation with the project already defined is what makes it productive.

Summary

Key takeaways

IRAP is Canada's federal program for businesses building AI; it funds developing, adapting, and validating AI in your product, not buying an off-the-shelf tool.
It is a non-repayable contribution plus advisory support, for incorporated, for-profit Canadian businesses up to 500 employees.
The AI Assist program (Budget 2024, 100 million dollars over five years) backs SMEs building generative AI and deep-learning solutions.
Funding varies by stream; the NRC evaluation cites 50,000 to 10 million dollars. Confirm figures with the NRC; ignore consultant-site caps.
You start with an advisor, not an online form, and meeting the criteria does not guarantee funding.

ProofKPMG: only 2 percent of Canadian companies see a return on generative AI, despite 93 percent adopting it

The first step

Among Canada's AI funding routes, IRAP rewards businesses that are genuinely building. If AI is part of the product you sell or the technology you are advancing, it is one of the best-fit programs in the country, and the advisor relationship is worth investing in. If you are adopting a tool to run your operations better, IRAP is not your route, and that is useful to know before you spend a week on it.

Define the project plainly first. Run it through The Workflow Funding Test, decide whether you are building or buying, then approach IRAP only if you are building. The AI Funding and Workflow Fit Checker scores your workflow against the test.

Request Consultation. We review fit first, then confirm scope, timing, and paid diagnostic terms before any work begins. Attainment does not apply for or guarantee funding and is not affiliated with the NRC, CRA, or BDC.

About the author

David Cyrus, MBA, is the founder of Attainment, a diagnostic-first growth and operating-systems firm. He holds an MBA in Digital Business Models from Macquarie University and a BSc in Human Biology and Psychology from the University of Toronto, and writes about how Canadian businesses turn AI adoption into systems that pay back.

Further reading: SR&ED for AI under AI for All, is the BDC LIFT loan worth it, AI funding for Canadian business in 2026 compared, and the AI adoption funding guide for Canadian business.

Frequently asked questions

How does IRAP relate to Canada's AI for All strategy?

AI for All, Canada's national AI strategy from ISED, set the goal of lifting business AI adoption from about 12 percent to 60 percent by 2034, and names adoption levers like BDC LIFT and the SR&ED tax credit. IRAP is Canada's federal innovation-funding program for SMEs building technology, and its AI Assist program (Budget 2024) backs developing and adapting AI. So IRAP is the federal route for building AI alongside the strategy, not a lever the strategy names.

Does NRC IRAP fund AI projects?

Yes, when you are developing, adapting, testing, or validating AI in your core product. The NRC supports SMEs incorporating generative AI and deep learning into their products, including through the AI Assist program. It does not fund simply buying or subscribing to an existing AI tool.

Is IRAP a grant or a loan?

The NRC's contribution is non-repayable, so it functions like a grant rather than a loan. It applies to eligible project costs such as salaries and contractor fees for developing innovative technology, not to day-to-day operating costs.

Who is eligible for IRAP?

Per the NRC, a business must be incorporated, for-profit, operating in Canada, employ up to 500 full-time-equivalent people, and be developing and commercializing innovative, technology-driven products or services. Meeting the criteria does not guarantee funding.

How much money can IRAP provide?

It varies by stream. The NRC's program evaluation cites a range from 50,000 dollars to 10 million dollars across its streams. Specific percentages and caps seen on third-party sites are often tied to particular calls, so confirm any figure directly with the NRC.