Capitale-Innovation — Ville de Québec

Insider Tip

The name says innovation but the program will not pay for research and development — the City lists R&D costs and the cost of acquiring the innovative product or process as ineligible expenses. It funds getting an already-developed innovation into production and into a market: leaving an incubator, building a demonstration showcase, launching outside Quebec, or fitting out space. Take the R&D itself to SR&ED and Quebec's R&D credits instead. Two other things shape the ask. The rate is a bracket, not a marginal tier: cross $250,000 and your maximum share of eligible expenses drops from 50% to 40% on the whole contribution, so $250,000 needs about $500,000 of spending while $500,000 needs about $1.25 million. And if you are a tenant doing leasehold works, the commitment is real — a five-year lease minimum plus a ten-year commitment to stay in the district. The City itself tells you to look at Investissement Québec's innovation and commercialization programs first.

Rejection Pitfalls 12

• Cannot prove ownership of the intellectual property or exclusive rights on the territory concerned
• First significant sale is further out than roughly 24 months and the sector's normal timeline does not justify it
• Head office outside the Quebec City agglomeration and Wendake

Success Profile

An incorporated Quebec City company in optics-photonics, life sciences, clean tech, advanced manufacturing or AI that has finished developing a product, can document that it owns the IP or holds exclusive territorial rights, is within two years of its first significant sale (or has just made it), and is either leaving a recognized incubator into its own space, building a pre-commercial demonstration showcase, or launching a structured commercialization plan into a market outside Quebec — with three years of financial statements, two-year forecasts and a market-segmented revenue plan ready.

Evaluation Criteria

The City assesses: whether the applicant gives credible answers across every component of its responsible business model; the distinctive and innovative character of the project; the relevance of the product or service offer in the market, its positioning and competitive advantages; the viability and coherence of the project, in its nature and in the realism of the financing structure; organizational management capacity — relevant expertise and experience; financial capacity to complete the project and meet its objectives; environmental, social and governance criteria; the project's impact and structuring character, specifically whether it generates economic spin-offs in employment and removes barriers to development in the field; the demonstration of the need for financial assistance, including the compensation levels of principal officers; and the support structure around the project. Eligibility does not guarantee an award.

Application Steps

Required Documents 7

Eligible Expenses 8

• Professional fees, consulting services and studies
• Overheads, administrative costs and working capital necessary to deliver the project
• Costs of moving into the company's first premises: purchase or lease of goods, the first six months of rent, purchase or lease of equipment and assets, and marketing and promotion costs necessary to deliver the project
• Costs of hiring a first full-time employee who is neither a shareholder nor an officer of the company (salary and benefits)
• Salaries for human resources assigned to the project at the applicant's own pay-policy hourly rate, on production of a board resolution stating the amount allocated to the project and any relevant supporting documents
• Acquisition of data, materials and equipment (excluding rolling stock)
• Marketing, promotion and advertising activities and costs
• Leasehold improvement, refurbishment, expansion and renovation works on a building (specific contract-award rules may apply)

Ineligible Expenses 12

• Research and development costs — explicitly not eligible
• The cost of acquiring the innovative product or process itself
• Costs of participating in incubator programs, and incubator rent
• Land or building acquisition, connections and networks, roadworks, exterior landscaping, building construction works, standard furniture and salaries (stated in the context of immovable works — note the eligible list separately permits project-assigned salaries and a first employee's salary)
• Rolling stock (vehicles and mobile equipment)
• Financing of regular operations
• Charitable activities and payment of volunteer resources
• Debt payment or repayment of existing loans
• Replacement of existing government support or programs
• Expenses incurred or committed before the date the substantially complete and compliant application was filed
• Any expense relocating the business or part of its production outside the Quebec City agglomeration, unless the City consents in writing
• The portion of GST and QST the recipient recovers from governments

Intake Periods

Continuous. The City states the funding stream has been open since August 27, 2025; the page was last updated July 8, 2026. There are no intake windows and no deadline. Applications go through a two-stage review: an eligibility form, then an analysis form if eligibility is confirmed.

Deadline Notes

Rolling intake with no published deadline. The City states the funding stream has been open since August 27, 2025 and last updated the page July 8, 2026. The timing that matters is not a deadline but a window: the first significant sale must be planned within approximately 24 months or already achieved, and expenses committed before the substantially complete application was filed are not eligible. The City also warns that awards depend on available funds.

Ineligible Organizations

• Businesses outside the six eligible technology and industrial sectors
• Digital services and consulting firms — explicitly carved out of the digital sector list
• Companies that neither own the intellectual property nor hold exclusive territorial rights in the product or process
• Social-economy enterprises that cannot demonstrate sound democratic governance
• Applicants not discharged from bankruptcy, or listed on the RENA public-contract ineligibility registry
• Applicants in default on prior Ville de Québec assistance, or with amounts outstanding to the City
• Businesses headquartered outside the Quebec City agglomeration and Wendake

Compatible Programs

Clawback Risk

High Risk

Two overlapping exposures. First, the general rule: 'Si l'entreprise quitte le territoire ou cesse ses activités, des clauses de remboursement sont prévues selon la date de l'évènement.' Second, and much longer-dated, tenants funded for leasehold works commit to remaining in the district for TEN years on a lease of at least five — an unusually long tie for a municipal contribution, and a real constraint on a growing company's ability to relocate.