Funding
Canadian government programs were written to fund exactly this kind of work — diagnostics, roadmaps, implementation planning. Here's what they cover and who qualifies.
First — does this apply to you?
These are provincial and state programs. Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia, Alberta and Nova Scotia have verified routes today; California and Texas do on the US side. Other jurisdictions have their own agencies worth checking.
Quebec's ESSOR caps at 250 employees. Ontario's DMAP caps at 499. Above that, these particular programs don't apply.
These programs fund businesses. Some also require a minimum revenue — Quebec's, for instance.
Feasibility studies, digital diagnostics, roadmaps and implementation planning are exactly what these programs were designed to pay for.
How it usually runs
The two steps are linked on purpose. Completing the first is normally what qualifies you for the second, so the first engagement isn't just cheaper — it opens the larger one.
An AI opportunity audit and a sequenced roadmap. In Ontario, DMAP may cover up to $15,000 of a plan like this. In Quebec, ESSOR's first component plays the same role.
Acting on the plan. Ontario's implementation stream may cover up to $50,000; Quebec's ESSOR may cover up to 50% of eligible costs to the same ceiling.
A third lever
The Team AI Program is org-wide — adoption, training, and automation your whole company runs on. The training slice of that is exactly what employer training grants exist to fund, separately from the DMAP/ESSOR diagnostic-and-implementation money above. We scope the training component so it sits inside whichever program your jurisdiction already runs.
The Ontario Job Grant, Canada-Alberta Job Grant, B.C. Employer Training Grant and Nova Scotia's WIPSI each cover a majority share of employer-funded training — typically 50–80% of cost, to a per-trainee or per-employer cap.
California's Employment Training Panel and Texas's Skills Development Fund fund employer training directly, though on different terms — ETP pays out after the fact, and Texas requires a college or workforce-board partner. Elsewhere, your state's WIOA-funded workforce board is the route to check.
Same rule as everywhere else on this page: you apply, the money is paid to you, and we scope the engagement to fit — we don't guarantee an award or file on your behalf unless that's explicitly part of the engagement.
Who does what
The funding is paid to you, not to us, so the application is yours to file and yours to qualify for. We'll help you scope the engagement so it fits what the program funds.
The audit, the roadmap, the build. Priced the same whether or not you're funded — we don't mark up work because a program is paying for it.
We're based in Quebec. For Ontario clients that changes nothing: DMAP funds the Ontario business, and you can spend it with an advisor from anywhere. We are not an accredited or approved provider of any program, and we can't guarantee an award.
Questions
Then these two don't apply, but your province may have its own innovation agency, and federal SR&ED applies if you build software in-house. Tell us where you are and we'll look into it.
The SME adoption programs won't fit. Scale AI co-funds larger industry-led projects and is structured differently — worth a conversation.
There's no federal US equivalent of a Canadian adoption grant for the diagnostic and implementation work. Where the spend is training — the Team AI Program's training component — California's Employment Training Panel and Texas's Skills Development Fund are verified routes, and your state's WIOA-funded workforce board is worth checking everywhere else.
The engagement and its price stand on their own. We scope to what you want to achieve, not to what a program might pay for.
Program terms change — one major federal program closed in 2024, and the Ontario Job Grant was paused for a review in late 2025 before reopening in mid-2026. We re-check status before it goes in a proposal, and you should confirm with the program directly before relying on it.