Recover 30% of the salary of your AI developers
CDAEIA pays out 22 % of eligible salary in cash, even if your company owes no tax. The $83,333 cap is abolished. Find your amount in 30 seconds, then let us build the file.
- Recommendation engine
- Vision-based quality control
- Demand forecasting model
- Internal copilot on in-house data
- Natural language processing
- Anomaly and fraud detection
- Predictive maintenance
- Dynamic pricing engine
- AI embedded in a SaaS product
- Data preparation and labelling
The credit applied to a $120,000 salary
The 2026 reform removed the $83,333 eligible-salary cap that used to crush the credit on senior profiles. In its place, an exclusion threshold of $18,952 is deducted from each salary — and everything else becomes eligible.
- 30 %
of eligible salary
Overall rate, regardless of your fiscal year. Per employee, no salary cap.
- 22 %
paid out in cash
Refundable portion for a fiscal year starting in 2026, paid even with no tax owing.
- $18,952
exclusion threshold
The only deduction applied to each employee's salary. The old $83,333 cap no longer exists.
Eligibility requirements
If the first four are true for you, the case holds. The last two are checked against your financial statements — that's the matter of one call.
Your company
- At least 6 eligible employees, maintained all year
- 75% of gross revenue from information technology activities
- At least 50% of gross revenue from NAICS codes 51321, 51821, 54151, 561320 and 561330
- 75% of that revenue attributable to arm's-length beneficiaries, or to applications used exclusively outside Quebec
Your employees
- At least 26 hours a week, over a period expected to last at least 40 weeks
- 75% of work time spent on eligible activities, or their direct supervision
- A designated shareholder-employee's salary is excluded
What counts as an AI activity
- Specialized AI consulting services
- Preparatory work within the 12 months preceding a mandate, project, or product that significantly integrates AI
- Activities primarily related to e-business significantly integrating AI
“Significantly” is assessed qualitatively, per Investissement Québec's evaluation guide. Good news that's not widely known: on a mandate that significantly integrates AI, all of the employee's hours count — including time spent on modules without AI.
What doesn't count
- Work with no artificial-intelligence component
- Maintenance and evolution of a solution already delivered
- Operating an e-business solution
- Managing IT systems or infrastructure
- Call centres, hardware installation, training
- Administrative and marketing tasks
Credit split by your fiscal year
| Fiscal year starts | Refundable | Non-refundable | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 22 % | 8 % | 30 % |
| 2027 | 21 % | 9 % | 30 % |
| 2028 et suivantes | 20 % | 10 % | 30 % |
Source: Investissement Québec — Fiche détaillée CDAEIA (juin 2026). The rate is cut in half when half or more of gross revenue is attributable to a related ultimate beneficiary.
CDAE AI credit calculator
Adjust the three parameters to estimate your credit.
Vos paramètres
Minimum de 6 employés admissibles à maintenir toute l'année.
Le seuil d'exclusion de $18,952 est retiré du salaire de chaque employé.
Crédit remboursable estimé
$133,844
par année, versé même si vous ne payez aucun impôt.
- Crédit non remboursable8 % — réduit votre impôt à payer
- $48,671
- Crédit total30 % du salaire admissible
- $182,515
- Salaire admissible retenu$76,048 par employé, après le seuil d'exclusion
- $608,384
Estimation indicative. Elle ne tient pas compte des tests de revenus par codes SCIAN, du prorata des employés à temps partiel d'exercice ni de la réduction de taux applicable aux bénéficiaires ultimes liés. Le montage précis se fait en 30 minutes avec nous.
Does the amount surprise you? Most companies we meet are still calculating with the old $83,333 cap. A 30-minute call is enough to confirm the real base and set the schedule for both attestations.
Investissement Québec attestations
CDAEIA requires two annual attestations from Investissement Québec — one for the company, one per employee claimed — filed before the end of the 15th month following your fiscal year-end. Past 18 months, the request is refused and the year is lost. That's where files die, not on the math.
- 01
From project assessment to cash collected
We start by assessing what your project can realistically claim, and we size the achievable credit before any commitment. We then build the file, technical section included. And we stay to the end: filing the attestations, following up with Investissement Québec and Revenu Québec, through to payment.
- 02
Two attestations, zero hours from your technical team
We conduct the interviews with your developers, draft the description of eligible activities, and build the company attestation and each employee attestation. Your people go back to writing code.
- 03
Defense is included, not billed as an extra
If Revenu Québec or Investissement Québec asks for clarifications, Hubvention Shield™ covers the response and documentation. 99% of our files go through.
Need the cash before it’s paid out? Investissement Québec offers financing starting at $20,000 against the refundable credit receivable. We set this up at the same time as the CO-1029.8.36.DA claim.
Frequently asked questions
Figures current as of Investissement Québec's detailed fact sheet, updated juin 2026.
Ask yoursCDAEIA is Quebec's tax credit for e-business development integrating artificial intelligence. It refunds 30% of the eligible salary of each employee assigned to AI activities. For a fiscal year starting in 2026, 22 points are refundable — you collect the cash even with no tax owing — and 8 points reduce your tax. It replaces the old CDAE for all fiscal years beginning after December 31, 2025.
A corporation that maintains at least 6 eligible employees all year, earns at least 75% of its gross revenue from information technology activities, and at least 50% from four specific NAICS codes (51321, 51821, 54151, 561320, 561330). An employee is eligible if they work at least 26 hours a week, over a period expected to last at least 40 weeks, and spend at least 75% of their time on eligible AI activities. Startups can claim the credit for the portion of the year following the point at which they reach 6 employees.
The $83,333 eligible-salary cap is abolished. Instead, an exclusion threshold of $18,952 for 2026 is deducted from each employee's salary, and 30% applies to the rest. A developer paid $120,000 therefore generates about $30,300 in credit, of which about $22,200 is collected in cash for a fiscal year starting in 2026. A team of 8 employees at $95,000 exceeds $180,000 in annual credit.
You need two annual attestations from Investissement Québec: a corporate attestation and an employee attestation for each person claimed. The request must be filed before the end of the 15th month following your fiscal year-end; past 18 months, it's refused with no recourse. The credit is then claimed with Revenu Québec using form CO-1029.8.36.DA. Hubvention builds both attestations and the claim file start to finish.
Yes, but never on the same dollar of salary. SR&ED funds technological uncertainty — a model you don't know will work. CDAEIA funds the significant integration of AI into an e-business solution, even without research risk. A developer can have part of their salary allocated to SR&ED and the rest to CDAEIA, provided the split is documented to the hour. That's exactly where most files leave money on the table.
Read next: SR&ED credit, which stacks on separate salaries, the AI Compute Access Fund to fund compute power, and NGen's AI4M initiative for AI applied to manufacturing.