Capitale-Innovation — Ville de Québec

Program Description

A non-repayable contribution of up to $500,000 per project from the City of Québec for developing, producing and commercializing an innovative product or process. The rate is bracketed: a contribution up to $250,000 covers at most 50% of eligible expenses, and a contribution between $250,000 and $500,000 covers at most 40%. The company must own the intellectual property or hold exclusive rights on the territory concerned, and its first significant sale must be planned within roughly 24 months or already achieved. Research and development costs themselves are not eligible — the program funds getting an already-developed innovation to market.

Eligibility Requirements

• Applicant must be a privately incorporated business, or a social-economy enterprise (non-profit or co-operative) carrying out mainly commercial activities. Duly registered sole proprietorships and general partnerships qualify only if they are majority Indigenous-owned and located on the territory of Wendake.
• The head office must be in the Quebec City agglomeration (Québec, Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures, L'Ancienne-Lorette) or Wendake.
• The company must prove it owns the intellectual property in the product or process, or holds exclusive rights on the territory concerned.
• The first significant sale must be planned within approximately 24 months, or already achieved — unless the usual commercialization timelines of the sector concerned are different.
• The project must be carried out within a structured commercialization plan aimed at growth and improved profitability.
• The business must operate in one of the eligible sectors: agri-food, food processing and health foods; digital arts and interactive entertainment, financial technologies, artificial intelligence, smart city or other digital products and technologies — explicitly excluding services and consulting; manufacturing, materials, industrial processing, robotics and Industry 4.0; optics-photonics, measurement and control technologies, advanced electronics; life sciences, biotechnology and health technologies; or clean technologies (water, air, soil treatment, eco-mobility, energy efficiency, renewable energy, green chemistry, residual materials, enabling technologies and sustainable development).
• The project must be one of four types: installation and startup of activities in the company's own premises on leaving a recognized incubator; a technology-validation or pre-commercial demonstration showcase to test, validate or demonstrate an innovative product or process; deployment of a structured commercialization plan for an innovative product or process in a new market outside Quebec; or fit-out and leasehold improvement works, including equipment, for spaces dedicated exclusively to research and development or enabling the company to pass significant growth milestones.
• Project territory is the Quebec City agglomeration and Wendake, with two stream-specific exceptions: for the incubator-exit installation project type in the digital arts and interactive entertainment sector, the project territory is Quartier Saint-Roch specifically; and for the structured-commercialization project type, the project territory is outside the province of Quebec.
• For leasehold improvement works where the applicant is a TENANT, the project must be carried out under a lease of at least five years, with a commitment to remain in the district for ten years. (This condition applies to tenants undertaking leasehold works, not to every applicant.)
• There is no minimum project cost.
• Repayment clauses apply if the business leaves the territory or ceases operations, calculated by the date of the event.
• Total active funding across all Ville de Québec economic-development programs is capped at $500,000 per two-year period, with every award counted at 100% of its value.
• Social-economy enterprises that cannot demonstrate sound democratic governance are excluded.
• One-off event-type projects are excluded.
• Applicants who have not been discharged from a bankruptcy judgment are excluded.
• Businesses listed on Quebec's Registre des entreprises non admissibles aux contrats publics (RENA) are excluded.
• Applicants who, in the two years preceding the application, failed to meet obligations tied to earlier Ville de Québec financial assistance after being formally put on notice are excluded.
• Applicants with amounts outstanding to the Ville de Québec are excluded, and any sums owed are deducted from payments (taxes, SDC dues, fines).
• Organizations that do not meet the high integrity standards the public is entitled to expect of a recipient of public funds are excluded, as are discriminatory or controversial projects, or projects presenting a reputational risk to the City.
• No member of Quebec's National Assembly, no municipal elected official and no member of their family may be party to, or benefit from, a contract or commission arising from the FRCN delegation agreement.
• A business that already received a Ville de Québec grant under Vision entrepreneuriale Québec must wait until it has received the final instalment of that grant before filing a new application (this restriction does not apply to the Bourse entrepreneuriale or Bons d'accompagnement streams).
• Eligibility does not guarantee an award — the amount offered depends on available funds and the City's assessment of demonstrated need, including the compensation levels of principal officers.