SR&ED. IRAP. Scale AI. FedDev Ontario. Five programs decoded in one interactive playbook. Find out what you qualify for, how to stack programs legally, and what kills most claims before they're read.
Five programs. Five sets of eligibility rules. Five bureaucratic languages. Most accountants don't know these programs deeply — and most SMEs only find one, if any.
SR&ED, IRAP, Scale AI, FedDev, and ACAF share no application, no eligibility standard, and no common language. Each one takes real time to understand and more to apply for correctly.
SR&ED consultants typically charge 15–25% of your claim. On a $200K refund that's $30K–$50K in fees — paid for knowledge you could have going in.
IRAP + SR&ED + Scale AI, legally combined, can turn a single project into $500K–$2M+ in funding. Most SMEs claim one program and leave the rest on the table.
Every eligibility rule, application step, audit red flag, and stacking strategy — verified against official sources as of June 2026.
Canada's flagship R&D grant, covering up to 75% of eligible labour. The AI Assist sub-stream is specifically for SMEs adopting or integrating AI — no AI background required.
Rolling intake · all of Canada35% refundable credit on the first $6M of R&D (Bill C-15, 2026). If your team is solving genuine technical problems using AI, you almost certainly qualify. Most companies doing this work never file.
File with T2 · pre-revenue qualifiesCanada's AI Supercluster co-invests in applied AI projects. Requires a consortium of at least two Canadian companies — the most common reason applications fail.
Ongoing intake · consortium requiredSouthern Ontario's federal development fund. The BSP stream is fully repayable at 0% interest. The RTRI stream is non-repayable for businesses with documented tariff exposure.
Southern Ontario only · rolling intake$300M fund covering GPU and cloud AI costs. The only Call for Proposals closed July 31, 2025. No second round has been announced. The playbook covers what to monitor and how to prepare.
⚠️ No active intake as of June 2026An interactive HTML file — no login, no subscription. Buy once, use forever. Updated as programs change.
7 questions about your company. All five programs ranked by fit, with an explanation for each match.
Full breakdowns of all five programs — eligibility, amounts, timelines, what reviewers score on, and what kills applications.
All five programs side by side, filterable by funding type, company size, and Ontario eligibility.
See how programs combine legally. A Toronto tech SME stacking IRAP + SR&ED + OITC can recover 50–55% of total R&D spend.
The exact red flags that trigger CRA reviews — including 2026 AI/ML-specific scrutiny criteria. With a fix for each.
Estimate your refund in real time. Includes Ontario OITC, the Bill C-15 $6M limit, and the new gross revenue phase-out election.
Three anonymized examples — a Toronto AI startup ($340K recovered), a Windsor manufacturer (61% cost recovery), and a Waterloo firm that lost $84K to documentation failure.
Honest breakdown of SR&ED firms — G6, Boast AI, Ryan, Leyton, DIY, and software platforms. Fee ranges, pros, cons, and when each makes sense.
ITA outreach email, T661 technical narrative, Scale AI consortium term sheet, and FedDev concept paper — with instructions.
7 questions about your company — size, AI activity, revenue, location. All five programs ranked by fit. Takes 2 minutes.
Deep-dive into the programs that fit your situation. Understand eligibility, what reviewers score on, and the documentation mistakes that get claims rejected.
Use the stack calculator to find which programs combine legally for your business. Most SMEs qualify for two or three simultaneously.
Copy the ready-to-use templates, fill in your details, and submit. Follow up using the verified contact directory.
The playbook assumes you already know which programs apply. If you're still working that out — or want a second opinion before committing time to an application — that's what the strategy session is for.
Fill out the intake form first. Your advisor reads it before the call and comes prepared with a draft stack already built. You spend the session confirming details and asking questions, not explaining your business from scratch.
Some founders prefer to work through the process themselves. Others want someone to build the roadmap around their specific situation. Either way works — the intake is just a conversation starter.
$297 one-time. The average SR&ED claim is $198,000.