Regional Quantum Initiative in British Columbia

On this page

• How and when to apply
• Eligible applicants
• Eligible activities
• Eligible project costs
• Ineligible project costs
• Application review
• Available funding
• Repayment terms (for repayable funding)
• Contacts

How and when to apply

Contact PacifiCan to discuss your potential proposal with one of our business officers.

Applications will be accepted on a continuous intake basis until the funding is fully allocated. Regional Quantum Initiative funding can be used for eligible initiatives until March 31, 2028. 

Eligible applicants

This is a competitive program with priority given to eligible applicants in B.C that are:

Incorporated businesses, including start-ups and early revenue firms that are commercializing or adopting quantum technologies or quantum-based solutions.  Preference may be given to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with less than 500 full-time employees.

Applicants must:

• be a for-profit company incorporated to conduct business in Canada
• have staffed operating facilities in B.C.
• have funding from all other sources confirmed at time of application, including government and non-government (non-government funds must represent at least 50% of the proposed project costs)

Not-for-profit organizations, including those that support quantum businesses, innovators and entrepreneurs for
start-up, growth, productivity, technology commercialization, technology adoption, export and investment attraction, including:

• post-secondary educational institutions
• business accelerators and incubators
• angel networks
• Indigenous (First Nations, Inuit, Métis) organizations, including Indigenous-owned businesses and Indigenous-led not-for-profit organizations 
• groups of eligible recipients such as industry associations or consortiums.

All applicants must be legal entities capable of entering into legally binding agreements.

Eligible activities

Eligible activities could include:

Productivity improvement, which includes:

• acquiring, adapting and adopting new technologies and processes
• process re-engineering
• improving manufacturing capacity

Business scale-up, which includes:

• developing or expanding markets
• adopting best management practices, processes and systems
• developing business opportunities

Technology commercialization, which includes:

• growing and diversifying markets through late stage product development
• technology showcasing and demonstration (Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) 7-9 as defined by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada)

Ecosystem capacity building, which includes:

• developing strategic business alliances within a specific sector or cluster
• identifying barriers to scale-up and productivity enhancement within the sector or cluster through research and analysis
• developing a strategy to address these barriers

Business acceleration and incubation, which includes:

• helping entrepreneurs create and grow their start-up companies by providing advice on how to:
  • create a business plan
  • determine a marketing strategy
  • hire employees, experts and/or mentors
  • advance technology to TRL 7-9
  • deploy specialized equipment

Priority under the Regional Quantum Initiative may be given to projects that contribute to one or more of the following:

• clean economic growth by transitioning to greening of products or operations or environmentally sustainable practices
• diversity, equity and inclusion through an increase in participation of underrepresented groups

Eligible project costs

Incremental costs essential to the project. Costs that may be eligible for reimbursement include:

• cost of labour (e.g. wages and benefits)
• capital costs (e.g. purchase of machinery or equipment)
• operating costs that are directly related to the project, such as management fees or working capital
• consultancy fees (e.g. professional, advisory and technical services)
• costs related to intellectual property protection
• preproduction (e.g. technological development and commercial demonstrations)
• subcontracting costs
• production and distribution of promotional material and management tools
• anticipated cost of maintaining the useful life of an asset for a reasonable period
• costs related to specialized services, such as testing services, research and development services, technical or innovation services, sector development strategies in all markets and business networking

Ineligible project costs

Costs deemed unreasonable, not incremental and/or not directly related to project activities will be ineligible for reimbursement. These include, but may not be limited to:

• basic and applied R&D (TRL 1-6)
• land acquisition and goodwill
• salary bonuses and dividend payments
• entertainment expenses
• refinancing of existing debts
• amortization or depreciation of assets
• purchase of any assets for more than their fair market value
• lobbying activities
• donations, dues, and membership fees

Available funding

• Businesses can receive interest-free repayable funding for up to 50% of eligible costs
• Eligible not-for-profit organizations can receive non-repayable funding for up to 90% of eligible costs 
• Eligible not-for-profit organizations proposing to undertake commercial projects will normally receive repayable funding
• Stacking of government funding (from all three orders of governments) is limited to up to 50% of eligible capital costs and 75% of other eligible costs for businesses or commercial projects

Application review

Applications will be evaluated on:

• their ability to achieve the Regional Quantum Initiative objectives
• their relative strengths to help Canadian companies advance and commercialize quantum products and solutions for domestic and global markets

The evaluation considers the following areas:

• market potential
• management capability
• financial capacity
• economic impacts (e.g. jobs created, revenue growth, export sales growth, technologies brought to market)
• technology readiness (technology commercialization projects only)
• regional priorities

Repayment terms (for repayable funding)

• After project completion, there is a 1 year grace period, followed by equal monthly repayments over 5 years
• Interest-free
• No security/collateral will be taken
• There is no penalty for early repayment

Not-for-profit organizations may receive non-repayable contributions for non-commercial projects.