Explanatory document - Assistance program for businesses
Research and innovation component

Objectives
Eligible clienteles
Ineligible clienteles
Eligible candidates
Eligible projects
Type of financial assistance
Evaluation of applications
Information

Objectives

The purpose of the business assistance program, through its jobs in research and innovation component, is to create a research and innovation function in businesses, or to consolidate that function, by incorporating new scientific and technological skills, while simultaneously defraying part of the salaries paid for new innovation jobs.

More specifically, it is designed to:

• stimulate innovation (research and development) and transfer activities in businesses
• create hiring opportunities for CEGEP and university graduates
• strengthen the innovation capacity of businesses
• enhance the competitive capacity of businesses

Eligible clienteles

To qualify, a business must be:

• a manufacturing business, that is, its activities must be primarily manufacturing-related;
• a private business in the tertiary technology sector (the new economy);
• in the software publishing industry and submit an innovation project for software design, not software commercialization;
• a recycling/environmental business;
• an employer of at least 200 permanent employees at the time of the application;
• legally incorporated and operating in Québec.

Ineligible clienteles

The following clienteles are not eligible for the program: educational institutions, their mandataries and affiliated organizations; businesses and organizations that are more than 50% government funded; service businesses; wholesalers; and distributors.

Eligible candidates

To qualify, candidates must have the appropriate project-related knowledge. In addition, they must:

• have an undergraduate degree, a Master's degree or a PhD, or a Diploma of College Studies (DCS) in a vocational program, particularly in one of the fields below:
  • Science and engineering
  • Natural sciences and the environment
  • Health sciences
  • Pure and applied sciences
• be a Canadian citizen or a landed immigrant, and a permanent resident of Québec.

The ministère du Développement économique, de l'Innovation et de l'Exportation (MDEIE) may recognize other diplomas as university and college technology programs evolve.

Studies outside Québec: Candidates who studied outside Québec must first obtain a comparative evaluation from the ministère de l'Immigration et des Communautés culturelles (MICC) with a view to establishing an equivalence between their diplomas and those in Québec.

Eligible projects

Innovation (research and development)

Innovation projects are initiatives to develop a new product or process and internal expertise, or to significantly improve existing ones. Eligible projects may include the following activities:

• Technical and prototype development 
• Intellectual property management
• Market and business strategy comprehension

Note: These three activities are carried out in tandem when an innovation or product is being developed. The person in charge of innovation for a business must take all three of them into account. Thus, the jobs targeted by the research and innovation component of the business assistance program must be positions dedicated to innovation, not to marketing or production. Activities and positions related to value-added production (VAP) are not eligible for this program.

Technology transfer

Technology transfer projects are generally projects that will be part of a process to sell or purchase a product, service, licence or patent, and that involve assimilating technology or expertise and adapting it to special application conditions. Eligible projects may include the following activities:

• Identification
• Evaluation
• Acquisition
• Adaptation
• Implementation

Type of financial assistance

• Financial assistance is awarded in the form of a two-year wage subsidy. The amount eligible for financial assistance corresponds to a candidate's base pay when he or she took up the employment, minus bonuses and other forms of compensation, as reported by the business in signing the subsidy agreement.
• In all cases, the total subsidy granted per employee is 50% of the employee's pay, without exceeding $15 000 a year in the case of a college graduate, $20 000 a year in the case of an undergraduate and $25 000 a year in the case of a candidate with a Master's degree or PhD.
• A maximum of three subsidized positions may be authorized per business for the duration of the research and innovation component of the program, that is, until March 31, 2009 (including businesses not operating at arm's length within the meaning of the tax legislation).

Evaluation of applications

Projects submitted by a business are evaluated according to the following criteria:

• Creation of a research and innovation function in the business, or consolidation of that function in the business
• Relevance and quality of the project from a technical standpoint and from the standpoint of its contribution to product or process enhancement
• Ability of the business to successfully complete its project, in terms of human, material and financial resources
• Correspondence between the qualifications of the candidates and the responsibilities entrusted to them

Information

For more information, contact the regional office of the MDEIE closest to you.

Last update: December 18, 2007