CQDM SynergiQC Program

Insider Tip

The number that governs your planning is $500,000 a year, not $1.5M — CQDM's total contribution including indirect costs and management fees cannot exceed that in any single year, so a $1.5M award only exists on a full three-year project. Two structural facts decide whether this program is worth pursuing at all. First, the funded applicant is the researcher at the Quebec public research institution; as a business you are a partner and co-funder, and the eligible expenses are the institution's costs, not yours. Second, whether your partner counts as an SME (249 employees or fewer) doubles the CQDM rate from 20% to 40% — but on the SME route your cash is genuinely cash, since in-kind contributions are excluded from the matching calculation. If your work is in RNA therapies, CQDM also lists a complementary D2R partnership offering up to $2 million per selected project on a rolling basis.

Rejection Pitfalls 7

• The business tried to apply directly — only a researcher at a Quebec public research institution can be the funded applicant
• Partner contribution offered in-kind on an SME project, where in-kind does not count toward the required 20% cash match
• Technology outside TRL 1-6

Success Profile

A Quebec university, hospital-affiliated research centre, CCTT or public research centre PI with an industrially relevant life-sciences project at TRL 1-6, paired with a Quebec-registered SME of 249 employees or fewer that will commit real cash — not in-kind — to at least 20% of eligible expenses, with students embedded in the work and a clear commercialization path that benefits both the partner and Quebec.

Evaluation Criteria

Five published criteria: quality of the research, relevance of the methodology, feasibility and the appropriateness of available resources and expenditure; the commercialization plan; the differentiation, competitiveness and added value of the proposed technology; the benefits for the private partners; and the socio-economic benefits for Quebec together with the alignment between the project and general industry needs. Evaluation then runs in four stages — independent scientific evaluation, a review of non-scientific aspects including the level of company commitment, the added value of the collaboration and project-specific risks, an overall assessment by CQDM's scientific advisory board which recommends funding, and approval by CQDM's Board of Directors — with the Ministère de l'Économie, de l'Innovation et de l'Énergie giving the final funding approval.

Application Steps

Required Documents 7

Eligible Expenses 8

• Fellowships, wages and fringe benefits for research personnel assigned to the project — technicians, research assistants and associates, postdoctoral fellows and students
• Laboratory equipment, consumables and supplies
• Animal housing and platform fees
• Travel related to the project, collaborations and conferences, plus knowledge dissemination costs
• Intellectual property costs — patent applications and patent maintenance fees for the duration of the project
• Rental or purchase of small equipment up to a maximum value of $25,000 where necessary to the project
• Some subcontracting to Quebec companies that are not project partners, where the activity is essential and cannot be performed by the research institution
• In-kind expenses by partner companies — but only on projects involving exclusively large Quebec companies

Ineligible Expenses 4

• In-kind expenses by partner companies on projects that include an eligible SME — these do not count in the matching calculation
• Lease or purchase of facilities
• Purchase of equipment valued over $25,000
• Salary of the principal investigator and of co-investigators from universities and their affiliated research centres

Intake Periods

Calls for proposals open every three months. The current call closes August 18, 2026. CQDM must be notified of an intention to submit no later than seven days before a deadline, and the half-page non-confidential scientific summary is due no later than one week before the application deadline.

Deadline Notes

The current call closes August 18, 2026. CQDM issues calls for proposals every three months, so a missed date means roughly a quarter's wait rather than a year's. Two things have to happen before the deadline itself: you must notify CQDM of your intention to submit no later than seven days beforehand so the project can be properly evaluated, and you must submit a half-page non-confidential scientific summary at least one week before the application deadline. Start with Simon Fournier — the application form and the SynergiQc budget template are only available from him.

Ineligible Organizations

• Businesses applying as the funded applicant — only researchers in Quebec public research institutions may receive the funding
• Businesses without a place of business in Quebec, without registration in the Quebec Enterprise Register, or not conducting R&D or production activities in Quebec
• Businesses not legally incorporated under current federal or Quebec laws
• Research institutions outside Quebec

Stacking partner data not yet available.

Clawback Risk

Low Risk

The award is a research grant to a public institution rather than repayable financing, and CQDM publishes no repayment clause. The real conditions are front-loaded: funding approval depends on MEIE authorisation after CQDM's board recommendation, and the research agreement must be signed within three months of the approval letter or the award is at risk. Milestones, timeline and deliverables are defined precisely in that agreement.