BDC
Program mandate: venture & growth capital — over $1B committed to accelerate Canadian tech.
- Portfolio AI-readiness audits
- Technical post-investment support
- Engineering execution against funded milestones
Who We Work With
Built for the people deploying capital into Canadian innovation.
We work alongside Canadian founders, funds, and enterprise teams pursuing — and deploying — capital from federal programs like IRAP, FedDev Ontario, BDC, ISED, and SR&ED. CFRI is an independent applied research firm and is not affiliated with any of these programs.
Federal AI commitment, Budget 2025
Cdn financial firms deploying AI in 2025
YoY AI adoption — finance & insurance
Cdn businesses with no AI plan today
Block A · Grant-Funded Projects
Where capital meets execution.
We help founders and enterprise teams scope, ship, and report on projects funded by these federal programs. We do not represent the programs themselves.
FedDev Ontario
Program mandate: AI adoption and commercialization for Ontario firms.
- Program design & evaluation
- Cohort technical implementation
- Outcome reporting that holds up
IRAP (NRC)
Program mandate: industrial R&D assistance for Canadian technology projects.
- Project scoping with your ITA
- Engineering execution
- Open-source publication
ISED & SR&ED
Program mandate: federal digital adoption and R&D tax credit programs.
- SR&ED-eligible R&D scoping
- Documentation & defensibility
- Quarterly milestone delivery
Block B · Venture Capital
Founder-grade technical partners for funds.
We've raised, deployed, and operated. We bring that to your diligence and your portfolio — without the consultant tax.
Technical Due Diligence
Pre-investment teardown of AI architecture, model risk, security posture, and scalability. Founder-to-founder, no junior analysts.
Deal-by-deal · 5–7 day turnaround
Portfolio AI-Readiness
Cross-portfolio assessment with prioritized opportunity map per company. We surface hidden moats and capital traps.
Annual engagement
Operating Support
Embedded technical leadership for portfolio companies between Series A and exit. Hands on the keyboard when it matters.
Fractional · per-portco
Block C · Foundations
Research that gets used.
Outcomes published openly. Findings designed to be cited, deployed, and built upon — not archived.
Applied Research Grants
Sponsored research programs producing usable findings — not whitepapers that sit in a drawer. Outcomes published openly under the CFRI banner.
Open-Source Infrastructure
Foundational protocol work for Canadian innovation capacity. Co-developed and co-published with academic and industry partners.
Block D · Enterprise
Inside regulated environments — by default.
Banks, insurers, professional services, and Crown corporations engage CFRI for technical conviction with the discretion their context requires.
Financial Services
OSFI-aligned model risk, AI governance, and production deployment for banks, insurers, and asset managers.
OSFI-aware
Insurance
Underwriting, claims, and fraud workflows engineered for regulated environments.
PIPEDA-compliant
Professional Services
Knowledge-work AI for legal, accounting, and consulting firms — discretion built in.
Confidential delivery
Crown Corporations
Public-sector digital modernization with the procurement, security, and audit fluency it requires.
PSPC-ready
CFRI is an independent applied research firm. References to BDC, FedDev Ontario, NRC IRAP, ISED, and SR&ED describe Government of Canada programs that fund work we help deliver — not commercial partnerships or endorsements.
Funded? Let's Deploy Fast.
If you've received BDC, FedDev, ISED, or IRAP funding — we help you deploy it at speed, compliantly.
Federal Budget 2025 committed over $925M to Canadian AI infrastructure. That capital needs implementation partners who know how to execute at the pace government programs require.
Talk to Us →- BDC Venture & Growth Capital — $1B mandate to accelerate Canadian tech deployment
- FedDev Ontario — AI adoption commercialization for Ontario firms
- IRAP (NRC) — Industrial R&D assistance for technology projects
- SR&ED Tax Credits — We help structure qualifying R&D and documentation
- ISED Digital Adoption — Federal mandates for SMB modernization programs
Next Step
YOU ALREADY KNOW
SOMETHING NEEDS TO CHANGE.
We've built what you're trying to figure out. Thirty minutes gets you clarity, a direction, and an honest read from people who've done it — not a pitch from people who haven't.