{"id":2170,"date":"2025-07-30T14:26:44","date_gmt":"2025-07-30T14:26:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leyton.com\/ca\/post\/answering-your-questions-about-nrc-irap-funding\/"},"modified":"2026-07-26T19:29:04","modified_gmt":"2026-07-26T17:29:04","slug":"answering-your-questions-about-nrc-irap-funding","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/leyton.com\/ca\/en\/insights\/articles\/answering-your-questions-about-nrc-irap-funding\/","title":{"rendered":"Answering your questions about NRC IRAP funding"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In a rapidly evolving economy, innovation is essential. The<strong> National Research Council of Canada<\/strong>\u2019s <strong>IRAP <a href=\"https:\/\/leyton.com\/ca\/government-grants\/\">funding program<\/a><\/strong> is one of the country\u2019s most impactful tools for helping <strong>small <\/strong>and <strong>medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)<\/strong> push these innovative ideas to market. <\/p>\n<p>What exactly is <strong>IRAP<\/strong>? How does it work? And more importantly, how can your business benefit from it?&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The following is a comprehensive guide to demystify<strong> IRAP<\/strong> and help you leverage one of Canada\u2019s most powerful <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/leyton.com\/ca\/tax-credits\/\">R&amp;D funding<\/a><\/strong> programs. <\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What is IRAP funding program?<\/h2>\n<p>The <strong>Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP)<\/strong> is a <strong>non-repayable funding program<\/strong> administered by the National Research Council of Canada (NRC).<\/p>\n<p><strong>IRAP <\/strong>combines advisory services with financial assistance to help companies at different stages of the innovation lifecycle, from ideation to market launch.<\/p>\n<p>Unlike <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/leyton.com\/ca\/tax-credits\/\">tax credits<\/a><\/strong> or repayable loans, <strong>IRAP <\/strong>offers non-repayable contributions that reduce the financial burden of R&amp;D.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Key Benefits of IRAP Funding<\/h2>\n<p>IRAP is not just another government grant. Here\u2019s why it stands out:&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Non-repayable funding<\/li>\n<li>Covers up to 80% of salaries for employees working on R&amp;D projects<\/li>\n<li>Covers up to 50% of subcontractor costs<\/li>\n<li>Support from an Industrial Technology Advisor (ITA) who guides you from concept to proposal execution.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Types of IRAP Projects<\/h2>\n<p>IRAP supports a range of R&amp;D initiatives, categorized by scale and focus:&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><mark class=\"has-inline-color has-primary-color\">1. Accelerated Review Process (ARP) for Small Projects<\/mark><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Up to $50,000 in funding<\/li>\n<li>Supports early-stage R&amp;D, feasibility studies and commercialization planning<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><mark class=\"has-inline-color has-primary-color\">2. Technology Innovation Projects for Mid to Large Scale Projects<\/mark><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Up to $10 million in funding<\/li>\n<li>Targets businesses with high growth potential and scalable innovations<\/li>\n<li>Often used for new product development, AI integration, software creation and industrial engineering solutions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><mark class=\"has-inline-color has-primary-color\">3. Youth Employment Program (YEP)<\/mark><\/h3>\n<p>Looking to grow your team while investing in young talent?&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The Youth Employment Program (YEP) offers up to $30,000 in wage subsidies to help you hire recent post-secondary graduates (ages 15 to 30) for tech and innovation-related roles.<\/p>\n<p>These 6 to 12 months internships are designed to build internal capacity while supporting career entry for youth in STEM, multimedia, marketing analysis or R&amp;D.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">IRAP Eligibility Criteria<\/h2>\n<p>To apply for IRAP funding, your company must meet these baseline conditions:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Incorporated and profit-oriented<\/li>\n<li>Located in Canada<\/li>\n<li>Employing 500 or fewer full-time equivalents <\/li>\n<li>Focused on developing and commercializing innovative, technology-driven products, services or processes. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Non-profit organizations, large enterprises and businesses not focused on tech innovation are not eligible.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What Expenses are Covered?&nbsp;<\/h2>\n<p><strong>IRAP <\/strong>reimburses eligible costs directly related to<strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/leyton.com\/ca\/insights\/articles\/how-to-differentiate-types-of-rd\/\">R&amp;D activities<\/a><\/strong>, such as:&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Salaries of technical staff (up to 80%)<\/li>\n<li>Subcontractor services (up to 50%)<\/li>\n<li>Prototype development<\/li>\n<li>Market validation and feasibility studies<\/li>\n<li>Product design and testing<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Please note that IRAP doesn\u2019t cover capital expenditures.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><em>Ready to Accelerate your Innovation?<\/em><\/h2>\n<p>Our team of funding experts can help you make the most of<strong> IRAP<\/strong> and other funding programs like <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/leyton.com\/ca\/tax-credits\/sred-scientific-research-experimental-development\/\">SR&amp;ED<\/a><\/strong>. <\/p>\n<p>They support you every step of the way to prepare all necessary documentation and offer coaching for the call with the ITA.<\/p>\n<p>Contact us today to unlock savings!<\/p>\n<div style=\"height:30px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/leyton.com\/ca\/contact-us\/\">Contact us<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"height:30px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n<h3>Sources<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/ec\">NRC Canada &#8211; Financial support for technology innovation through NRC IRAP<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/nrc.canada.ca\/en\/support-technology-innovation\/nrc-irap-service-standards\">NRC Canada &#8211; NRC IRAP service standards<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a rapidly evolving economy, innovation is essential. The National Research Council of Canada\u2019s IRAP funding program is one of the country\u2019s most impactful tools for helping small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) push these innovative ideas to market. What exactly is IRAP? How does it work? And more importantly, how can your business benefit from [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2869,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[222,1783],"tags":[232,114,168233,458015,528],"expertise":[778],"class_list":["post-2170","article","type-article","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-grants","category-irap-en","tag-funding","tag-innovation-en","tag-irap-program-en","tag-research-and-development-en","tag-tax-credit","expertise-government-grants"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v28.1 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Answering your questions about NRC IRAP funding - Leyton Canada<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"IRAP funding is a non-repayable program that helps Canadian SMEs finance R&amp;D projects. 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