New: Interest-Free AI Loans up to $5M for Canadian Founders

What’s up for today?

Read time: 3 mins

• A New Canadian Govt. AI loan programs

• Can you get both SR&ED and this loan?

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What is the RAII program?

Stands for Regional Artificial Intelligence Initiative

A Govt. interest free loans for AI adoption or AI product commercialization

Are there Key Dates?

Application deadline 20 Dec 2024

What are the details?

I’m covering the program for Ontario-only. However, the $ values do differ by province.

​Here's a spreadsheet link of the data below.

Financial Considerations

• Documentation to show ability to repay the loan

• Only costs incurred after application deadline count

• If you’re pre-revenue, you cannot use the following for project financing proof (details here)

     ˃ forecasted revenue

     ˃ In-kind contributions and cash from forecasted revenue

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The official program page

Deep dive into the programs here.

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SR&ED vs this loan

Now, you could apply for both, but…

• $ that you receive from the loan, will not be eligible for SR&ED

• Neither is a grant i.e., free money, but

     ˃ SR&ED $ are retrospective i.e., you spend $ doing research and you get a portion of it back after your fiscal year ends.

     ˃ RAII loan $ are also retrospective.

          ˃ It works in a cost sharing model i.e., you finish spending $x, and then the loan will pitch in a loan amount.

Bottom Line: RAII in Ontario offers a total of $50M. Given the per project caps (see table above), and SMB definition (<500 employees) - this leaves room for the Ms in SMBs to grab larger portions of RAII. In my opinion, this leaves less for smaller businesses.

If you have any questions about SR&ED or the RAII loan program, reach out - I’m a DM away!

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That's a wrap!

Let's build together,

Varsha