Industrial Research Assistance Program – AI Assist
National Research Council Canada
Program purpose (as reported by the department)
The NRC IRAP Artificial Intelligence (AI) Assist Program aims to equip and support SMEs to incorporate AI into their core products and services and/or undertake scientific research, product development, testing, and validation. AI Assist aims to increase the number, the quality, and the competitiveness of Generative AI (Gen AI), Deep Neural Nets (DNN), and Deep Learning (DL) products created and delivered by SMEs.
What the numbers say
- Half of the agreements with businesses are worth $75,000 or less.
- The largest recipient, SiftMed Inc., holds $500,000 (3% of the program's business funding in this data).
- The most recent agreement in the data started on 2025-12-01.
By fiscal year
By recipient province
Largest recipients
| Recipient | Agreements | Value | Latest start |
|---|---|---|---|
| SiftMed Inc. | 1 | $500,000 | 2025-08-04 |
| alooki Technology Inc. | 1 | $364,000 | 2025-06-02 |
| Bia formations inc. | 1 | $306,000 | 2025-08-18 |
| Foqus Technologies Inc. | 1 | $300,000 | 2025-06-09 |
| MindBridge Analytics Inc. | 2 | $295,000 | 2025-01-29 |
| Zighra Inc. | 1 | $250,000 | 2025-01-01 |
| Obruta Space Solutions Corporation | 1 | $208,992 | 2025-04-01 |
| EcoClaim Solutions Inc. | 1 | $200,000 | 2025-07-01 |
| Aucure Inc. | 1 | $200,000 | 2025-08-01 |
| Opreto Corporation | 2 | $194,000 | 2025-08-18 |
| 1929803 Ontario Corp. | 1 | $186,000 | 2025-07-01 |
| Alveolai Data Fuel Inc. | 1 | $178,000 | 2024-12-02 |
| XK Innovate Inc. | 2 | $150,000 | 2025-06-01 |
| TransforML Platforms Inc. | 1 | $150,000 | 2025-02-01 |
| Nutriag Ltd | 2 | $150,000 | 2025-07-01 |
Recent agreements
| Start | Recipient | Project | Province | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-12-01 | Broadsight Technology Corporation | AI Assist: Conversational Customer Relationship Management and Model Context Protocol Integration for Media Relations | BC | $120,000 |
| 2025-12-01 | Mercur IT Solutions Inc. | AI Assist: AI Pilot Project | BC | $53,000 |
| 2025-11-17 | Ascinta Technologies Inc | Development of AI Models for More Efficient and Accurate Nuclear Medicine Theranostics | BC | $53,000 |
| 2025-11-01 | Petal.ai Limited | AI Assist: ARP AI Intermediate Pilot Project for AI Visibility & Answer Engine Optimization | BC | $71,890 |
| 2025-10-06 | 9429-6357 Quebec inc. | AI Assist - AI Agents for Opportunity Discovery, Data Updates, and Accurate Matching | QC | $75,000 |
| 2025-10-01 | Metegrity Inc. | AI Risk Screening for Safer, Smarter Asset Management | AB | $150,000 |
| 2025-10-01 | Moving Pixel Productions Inc. | AI Vehicle Lead Generation Automation | BC | $75,000 |
| 2025-09-11 | Global Ag Weather Solutions Corp. | AI ASSIST - AI Expert - AI Driven Crop Yield and Quality Prediction for Canadian Row Crop Producers | SK | $0 |
| 2025-09-04 | General Technologies R&D Inc. | AI Assist: ARP AI Pilot Project for Converting dentist transcripts into clinical notes that are integrated into dental practice management systems. | BC | $116,000 |
| 2025-09-02 | Mind Key Health Inc. | AI Assist: AI Pilot Project for a Clinical Assessment Platform | BC | $74,100 |
| 2025-09-01 | Aya Health Technologies Inc. | AI Assist: Voice-Enabled Health Assistant for Clinical Automation | BC | $90,000 |
| 2025-09-01 | 10161758 MANITOBA LTD | AI Assist - scoping project for SaaS logistics management platform | MB | $75,000 |
| 2025-09-01 | Starluv Inc. | Development of Artificial Intelligence Powered Fashion Assistant Software Functionality | NL | $75,000 |
| 2025-09-01 | Quadlogic Meters Canada Inc. | AI Assist – LLM based tech support assistant pilot | BC | $75,000 |
| 2025-09-01 | WrightPlan Incorporated | AI Assist: AI as the Force Multiplier in Tachyon | ON | $75,000 |
| 2025-09-01 | Limestone Analytics Inc. | Building a software platform to automate the creation of economic models | ON | $75,000 |
| 2025-09-01 | Starling Minds Inc. | AI Assist: ARP AI Pilot Project for natural language query | BC | $72,232 |
| 2025-09-01 | Palomino System Innovations Inc. | AI Assist: WebPal 4 Workflow Automation: AI-Driven Process Chaining for Document Operations | ON | $75,000 |
| 2025-09-01 | TWC Nutrition Ltd | AI Assist scoping project for sales funnel activity and improved online sales | MB | $75,000 |
| 2025-09-01 | Launchit Solutions Inc. | AI Assist: ARP AI Qualification and Planning for Development and Deployment of a Canadian, Secure, Accessible, and Compliant AI Infrastructure | ON | $75,000 |
| 2025-09-01 | Clinisys EMR Inc. | AI Assist - Investigation of Voice Models | AB | $75,000 |
| 2025-09-01 | Jobbox Software Inc. | AI Assist: ServiceBox AI-Driven Business Data Widget | SK | $75,000 |
| 2025-08-18 | Bia formations inc. | Development of a scientific transfer application using artificial intelligence. | QC | $306,000 |
| 2025-08-18 | Opreto Corporation | Meet IQ Context Service | ON | $119,000 |
| 2025-08-08 | Black Arcs Inc. | AI Assist: ARP AI Pilot Project. | NB | $71,080 |
Method & sources
Source: Government of Canada "Proactive Disclosure – Grants and Contributions" (Open Government Licence – Canada). We include agreements with for-profit recipients that started on or after April 1, 2021, and keep the latest amendment of each agreement, so values are the current agreement value, not money paid out. Departments report on their own schedule, so the most recent quarter is incomplete. Recipients are linked to company pages by exact name match. This is not an endorsement or an eligibility determination — check each program's official page.
Dataset on open.canada.ca · Search the official grants records