How the National Research Council’s IRAP supports innovative Canadian SMEs with advisory help and cost-shared funding — and where AI projects fit.
dgm is an independent osFoundry integration partner — not affiliated with osFoundry’s maker (OS LLC), and dgm has no completed client integrations yet.
NRC IRAP is one of the most useful supports for an innovative Canadian SME doing AI work — it combines advice from a technical advisor with cost-shared funding.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| What it is | Advisory + non-repayable cost-shared funding for innovative SMEs |
| Who runs it | National Research Council of Canada |
| Eligibility | Incorporated, for-profit Canadian SME, fewer than 500 employees |
| How it pays | Reimbursement of eligible salary and contractor costs |
What NRC IRAP funds
IRAP provides advice, connections and funding to help Canadian SMEs increase innovation capacity and bring ideas to market. Funding is delivered as a non-repayable contribution that reimburses a share of eligible salary and contractor costs on a technical project — AI and machine-learning development frequently fits. Published figures for cost-share percentages and project caps come partly from secondary guides, so confirm the current numbers on nrc.canada.ca before budgeting.
Who is eligible
IRAP is aimed at incorporated, profit-oriented Canadian small and medium-sized businesses with fewer than 500 full-time-equivalent employees, with a technology-driven mandate and the ability to fund their share of the cost. Each engaged firm is assigned an Industrial Technology Advisor (ITA) — an NRC employee — as its primary contact.
How to start
Contact NRC IRAP directly (its advisors are NRC staff) or find it through the Business Benefits Finder. Important: these are programs a business applies for directly with the government agency, bank or cluster that runs them. dgm is an independent AI-integration agency — not a registered, approved or official deliverer of any program here. dgm can help assess fit and scope an AI project, but government money does not flow through dgm. An advisor cannot be replaced by a consultant — the ITA relationship is with NRC.
Where dgm fits
dgm is an independent integration partner that helps Canadian businesses adopt osFoundry — scoping a first use case, handling the build, and connecting AI to the systems you already run. dgm can help you scope the AI project that a program would fund — but you apply to the program directly. dgm is independent of osFoundry’s maker (OS LLC) and has no completed client integrations yet, so everything described here is a service offered, not a past result. If you want to scope a practical first project, dgm can help you map it out.