RAII funding for AI adoption in Ontario
The Regional Artificial Intelligence Initiative (RAII) helps businesses adopt AI. In southern Ontario, including Ottawa, FedDev Ontario accepts applications until 19 January 2027. INNOVA Consult, an Ottawa software and applied-AI company, scopes and builds the AI project; the business applies in its own name.
Northstar Professional Services is a fictional 30-person firm. Every number is what the engine computes for it.
Where RAII stands
Status on 4 November 2026
- Southern Ontario, including Ottawa FedDev Ontario
- Open. Applications close on 19 January 2027 at 4:59 p.m. Eastern. A project whose eligible costs start before 31 March 2027 applies by 24 November 2026.
- Northern Ontario FedNor
- Applications are assessed as they are received, and approval depends on the funding available.
- Quebec, including Gatineau CED Québec
- Accepting applications. Costs are eligible from the date the application is submitted.
Who can apply in southern Ontario
Qualifies
- A for-profit business located and operating in southern Ontario when it applies, or a First Nations, Métis or Inuit business.
- Incorporated and registered to do business in Canada or Ontario.
- For AI adoption: at least three years of operations shown in financial statements, and 5 to fewer than 500 full-time equivalent employees.
- Owns the project’s intellectual property, or can show it will secure the rights to it.
- Commits to responsible development and use of AI, including cybersecurity and human oversight.
Does not qualify as a business applicant
- For AI adoption, a business with less than three years of operations or fewer than five full-time equivalent employees.
- A business outside southern Ontario: northern Ontario applies to FedNor, Quebec to CED.
- A not-for-profit organization, which applies to FedDev Ontario through the separate stream for organizations.
The AI Commercialization and Scale-Up stream is for companies bringing an AI product to market: at least one year of operations, at least one full-time equivalent employee in southern Ontario and fewer than 500 overall, and technology at readiness level 6 or higher.
What the adoption support pays
- $125,000 to $5 million per project. FedDev Ontario pays up to 50% of eligible costs; the business pays at least 50%.
- Fully repayable and interest-free. Repayment normally begins one year after the project is completed.
- Eligible costs are new costs essential to the project and directly tied to its activities. Land and buildings, refinancing of existing debt and costs unrelated to the project are left out.
- Adoption activities include the purchase and installation of AI solutions beyond commonly available AI tools, AI readiness assessments, integrating solutions such as predictive analytics, and strengthening cybersecurity.
- Priority sectors for adoption: healthcare and life sciences, energy and natural resources, transportation, agriculture, and manufacturing and robotics.
FedDev Ontario does not reimburse the cost of preparing an application. INNOVA’s part of the project is the implementation work.
What a fundable AI adoption project looks like
FedDev Ontario funds adoption that improves productivity and competitiveness. A clear project names one process, measures how it runs today and states the result it should reach, in hours, errors or turnaround time.
- One process. Client intake, invoice preparation, quality checks: one piece of work with a start and an end.
- A measured starting point. How many cases a month, how many staff hours, how often the work is redone.
- A measurable outcome. The hours saved or the errors avoided once the automation runs, checked against the starting point.
We choose and describe that process with Workflow OS. It scores every process in the business by fixed rules, so the reasons for picking one are written down before the application is. A short AI readiness assessment is often the first piece of work.
What INNOVA does and what you do
INNOVA Consult
- Map the process with the people who run it.
- Score it in Workflow OS and agree what to automate.
- Write the technical scope and the cost estimate the application needs.
- Build the automation, with a person approving each step that needs one.
- Measure the hours saved against the starting point.
The business
- Applies to the agency in its own name.
- Pays its share of the project costs and, under a repayable contribution, the repayment.
- Keeps the project records and reports as its agreement requires.
Maksym Stepanenko leads and does the work; specialist contractors are brought in when a project needs them.
Quebec and northern Ontario
Quebec. CED Québec delivers RAII in Quebec, including Gatineau and the Outaouais, and accepts applications. SMEs ready to adopt AI can receive repayable support of up to 50% of authorized costs, and costs count from the day the application is submitted. Quebec readers have a page in French on the IRIA.
Northern Ontario. FedNor delivers RAII in northern Ontario and assesses applications as they arrive. Contributions to for-profit businesses are normally repayable, and all government funding for a project is capped at 50% of eligible capital costs and 75% of other eligible costs. Retail and service-based businesses are not considered.
RAII next to IRAP and SR&ED
NRC IRAP works with incorporated, for-profit businesses in Canada with up to 500 employees that develop technology-driven products and services. It starts with a call to NRC IRAP and, where the project fits, a meeting with an industrial technology advisor. How we work inside an IRAP project.
SR&ED is a tax credit for experimental development. FedDev Ontario counts it as other government assistance and asks applicants to leave SR&ED-eligible costs out of an RAII application when possible. What qualifies for SR&ED in software work.
Questions about RAII
Is RAII open in Ontario now?
Yes, in southern Ontario. As of 4 November 2026, FedDev Ontario accepts applications from 13 October 2026 to 19 January 2027 at 4:59 p.m. Eastern. In northern Ontario, FedNor assesses applications as they are received, and approval depends on the funding available.
What is the deadline for projects with costs before March 2027?
FedDev Ontario asks for the application by 24 November 2026 when the project and its eligible costs start before 31 March 2027. The application also states which costs have already been incurred or are expected by that date.
Does Ottawa fall under FedDev Ontario?
Yes. Ottawa is one of the census divisions in the FedDev Ontario region, and the agency has an office in Ottawa. A business in Gatineau, across the river, applies to CED Québec instead.
Is RAII funding repayable?
For businesses, yes. FedDev Ontario contributions are fully repayable and interest-free, and repayment normally begins one year after the project is completed. CED Québec and FedNor also give businesses repayable support.
What share of the costs does it cover?
FedDev Ontario pays up to 50% of eligible costs and the business pays at least 50%. A project receives between $125,000 and $5 million. Eligible costs are new costs that are essential to the project and directly tied to its activities.
Which company size qualifies?
For AI adoption in southern Ontario, a business needs at least three years of operations and 5 to fewer than 500 full-time equivalent employees. The AI Commercialization and Scale-Up stream asks for one year of operations, at least one employee in southern Ontario and fewer than 500 overall.
Does RAII pay for preparing the application?
No. FedDev Ontario states that costs related to preparing an application cannot be reimbursed. INNOVA’s part of a funded project is the implementation work: the build, its tests and the measurement after go-live.
How does RAII treat SR&ED?
FedDev Ontario counts SR&ED tax incentives as other government assistance and asks applicants to leave SR&ED-eligible costs out of an RAII application when possible. Plan which costs go to which program before the application is written.
What counts as AI adoption?
FedDev Ontario describes it as buying and installing AI or AI-driven solutions beyond commonly available AI tools, to improve productivity and competitiveness. Its examples include AI readiness assessments, integrating solutions such as predictive analytics, and strengthening cybersecurity.
Who applies, INNOVA or the business?
The business applies in its own name. INNOVA Consult maps and scores the process, writes the technical scope and cost estimate, and builds the project. Maksym Stepanenko leads and does the work; specialist contractors are brought in when a project needs them.
Send us the process you want the project to change.
Maksym Stepanenko, founder, in business since 2012. Products in public use, one of them in the App Store.