One row per service. Each service name links to the page that details it. Timelines start at signature, not at the audit.
| Service | Range | Timeline | What puts a project at the low or the high end |
|---|---|---|---|
| On-site chatbot | From CA$3,000; most SMB projects between CA$5,000 and CA$20,000 | 2 to 4 weeks for a FAQ; 4 to 6 weeks connected to your data; 6 to 10 weeks for a transactional chatbot | Low end : A FAQ trained on your own content: CA$3,000 to CA$6,000. High end : A transactional chatbot — appointments, CRM, tickets, ERP: CA$12,000 to CA$20,000 and up. In between, a chatbot connected to your data with cited sources: CA$6,000 to CA$12,000. |
| AI voice agent | CA$4,000 to CA$15,000 for design and integration | A few weeks for a simple agent; 1 to 3 months, testing included, once it is integrated with your calendar and CRM | Low end : An agent that answers frequent questions, transfers to the right person and takes messages. High end : An agent wired to your calendar and CRM that books appointments, qualifies the call and sends a summary after every call. |
| AI agents | A first focused agent from CA$5,000; most between CA$8,000 and CA$35,000 | A few weeks for a first agent; 2 to 3 months once it is connected to several systems | Low end : A first agent aimed at one task, with a single data source. High end : Several data sources, several tools connected, and more autonomy left to the agent. |
| Task automation | CA$4,000 to CA$25,000 | First process in production in 2 to 6 weeks; a multi-department project 2 to 4 months, in stages | Low end : Billing reminders, wired to a single source. High end : Integration across several systems — CRM, accounting, inventory, payroll. |
| Invoice and document processing | CA$4,000 to CA$25,000 | Set during the audit: it depends on how many document types and how much matching is involved | Low end : A simple flow: invoices arrive, they are read, they go to accounting. High end : Several document types with matching — purchase order, delivery, invoice. |
| AI training | An introductory workshop from CA$1,500; a full program CA$3,000 to CA$10,000 | A full program spread over 4 to 12 weeks, a few hours per week | Low end : A half-day or full-day discovery workshop. High end : A full program: prompt templates by role, use cases by department, and adoption support. |
Range
From CA$3,000; most SMB projects between CA$5,000 and CA$20,000
Timeline
2 to 4 weeks for a FAQ; 4 to 6 weeks connected to your data; 6 to 10 weeks for a transactional chatbot
What puts a project at the low or the high end
Low end : A FAQ trained on your own content: CA$3,000 to CA$6,000.
High end : A transactional chatbot — appointments, CRM, tickets, ERP: CA$12,000 to CA$20,000 and up. In between, a chatbot connected to your data with cited sources: CA$6,000 to CA$12,000.
Range
CA$4,000 to CA$15,000 for design and integration
Timeline
A few weeks for a simple agent; 1 to 3 months, testing included, once it is integrated with your calendar and CRM
What puts a project at the low or the high end
Low end : An agent that answers frequent questions, transfers to the right person and takes messages.
High end : An agent wired to your calendar and CRM that books appointments, qualifies the call and sends a summary after every call.
Range
A first focused agent from CA$5,000; most between CA$8,000 and CA$35,000
Timeline
A few weeks for a first agent; 2 to 3 months once it is connected to several systems
What puts a project at the low or the high end
Low end : A first agent aimed at one task, with a single data source.
High end : Several data sources, several tools connected, and more autonomy left to the agent.
Range
CA$4,000 to CA$25,000
Timeline
First process in production in 2 to 6 weeks; a multi-department project 2 to 4 months, in stages
What puts a project at the low or the high end
Low end : Billing reminders, wired to a single source.
High end : Integration across several systems — CRM, accounting, inventory, payroll.
Range
CA$4,000 to CA$25,000
Timeline
Set during the audit: it depends on how many document types and how much matching is involved
What puts a project at the low or the high end
Low end : A simple flow: invoices arrive, they are read, they go to accounting.
High end : Several document types with matching — purchase order, delivery, invoice.
Range
An introductory workshop from CA$1,500; a full program CA$3,000 to CA$10,000
Timeline
A full program spread over 4 to 12 weeks, a few hours per week
What puts a project at the low or the high end
Low end : A half-day or full-day discovery workshop.
High end : A full program: prompt templates by role, use cases by department, and adoption support.
These ranges cover the build. Recurring costs are written separately in the quote: see the next section.
Five things move a project from one end of its range to the other. None of them is a hidden extra: we go through them together during the audit, before the quote.
This is the first factor by far. A project wired to a single source sits at the low end of the range. Every additional piece of software — CRM, accounting, inventory, payroll, line-of-business tool — adds connection work, data mapping and testing. A connection is generally possible as soon as your software offers a connection interface; we verify this during the audit, and we promise no integration before that check.
Volume barely changes the build, but it changes the recurring cost: more conversations, more call minutes or more documents means more model usage and more hosting. That is why we write the recurring cost separately instead of folding it into one number.
A system that handles personal information needs a privacy impact assessment, a processing register, retention rules and a human in the loop. That is designed in from the start, and it is real work. If your sector adds requirements of its own — a professional order, for instance — we account for that during scoping.
An agent that speaks on the phone or writes to your customers has to be tried with real sentences from here: local expressions, street names, family names, postal codes. That testing takes time, and it is the time that separates an agent which works in a demo from an agent which works on Monday morning.
The more the AI acts on its own, the more rules, guardrails, logging and testing are needed. A system that prepares work for a person to approve costs less than a system that decides and executes. The choice is yours, and it is discussed task by task.
A project has a build cost and a recurring cost. We write them separately in the quote, so you know what you pay once and what you pay every month.
For a chatbot, the recurring cost covers three items: hosting in Canada, maintenance and continuous improvement, and model usage, billed as consumed. For an SMB, that generally adds up to a few dozen to a few hundred dollars a month, depending on conversation volume.
For an AI voice agent, we publish no monthly figure. That cost depends on call volume — telephony, voice model usage, hosting, maintenance — and a number posted here would not help you. Our article on the cost of an AI voice agent breaks down each item against the suppliers’ public rate cards, and the audit prices them for your actual call volume.
A useful comparison: an online tool at a few dozen dollars a month, often billed in US dollars, does the job perfectly well for testing a simple FAQ. It becomes limiting as soon as you need your own documents, your appointments, your CRM or personal information — its data often being hosted outside Canada.
Several programs fund AI and automation in Quebec. Programs and amounts change: always check the version in force before building a budget on a number you read somewhere, including here.
Some programs have eligibility rules that shut out the smallest businesses. ESSOR sub-streams 1B and 1C, for instance, require annual revenue of at least CA$2.5M: a five-person company does not qualify, however good its project is. That is why we check your eligibility BEFORE building a file. It saves you weeks of work for nothing, and it saves both sides a pointless round of phone calls.
Investissement Québec
A non-repayable contribution of up to 50% of eligible expenses. Sub-stream 1B: digital diagnosis and digital plan including artificial intelligence, up to CA$20,000. Sub-stream 1C: implementation of that plan, up to CA$50,000.
For 1B and 1C: 250 employees or fewer AND annual revenue of at least CA$2.5M. It is that revenue floor that rules out many small businesses.
Réseau des CCTT
50% of costs for a project of 100 hours or less, 35% from 100 to 200 hours, up to CA$11,200.
SMBs with 500 employees or fewer. This is generally the most accessible program for a small business.
Commission des partenaires du marché du travail
For training your people.
The application goes through a collective promoter: a sector association or a training organization. It is not a file you submit on your own.
Business Development Bank of Canada
An AI support program, with advisors and financing.
To be confirmed directly with BDC, based on your situation.
Revenu Québec
15% to 25% of computer hardware and management software.
This is a tax credit, not a grant: it runs through your tax return, with your accountant, rather than through an application filed before the project.
National Research Council of Canada
Funds research and development.
A standard chatbot is not R&D. IRAP becomes relevant when the project carries genuine technological uncertainty. Same note for SR&ED and the CDAEIA credit: rarely applicable to an SMB that buys a solution rather than builds one.
Zenidata is not a grant consultancy, and we will not pretend to be one. What we do: prepare the technical pieces a file requires — project description, deliverables, schedule, itemized budget, indicators — with your accountant or your funding advisor. Filing and following up on the file stays in their hands and yours.
One rule not to forget: when the program requires it, do not start the project before authorization. Expenses committed too early become ineligible, and nobody can fix that after the fact.
This section exists because a pricing page that shows only the good side does not help you decide. Here, in plain terms, is what we do not sell.
We guarantee no percentage of gain, no satisfaction level and no contractual delivery date. What we do instead: agree with you on the number to watch before starting, then measure it against the starting point. The only commitment on timing we make is a reply to your request within 1 business day.
We show no client names, no testimonials and no results obtained at a client: we have none that can be published, and we would rather say so than manufacture a showcase. What you can ask for instead — and should ask any supplier for — is a demonstration on your own data.
We hold no security certification — SOC 2, ISO or any other — and we will not suggest otherwise. What we do: host in Canada, minimize data, keep a human in the loop, log access and actions, apply retention rules, and hand you the documentation your privacy impact assessment needs.
A service range covers the build. Hosting, maintenance, continuous improvement and model usage are written separately in the quote, not melted into one number that would look nicer.
A connection to your software is generally possible as soon as it offers a connection interface, and we verify this during the audit. Before that check, we promise nothing. If there is no interface, we look at exports, dropped files and assisted entry, and we tell you plainly what that changes for the project.
We will not claim that “no data ever leaves Canada” for an AI voice agent. What we do say: hosting is in Canada, and each supplier’s details are settled during the audit, backed by a privacy impact assessment.
We prepare the technical pieces of your file. We do not file the application for you, and we promise no approval and no response time from any program.
It depends on the service. A business chatbot starts at CA$3,000. Task automation and invoice processing mostly run between CA$4,000 and CA$25,000. An AI voice agent takes CA$4,000 to CA$15,000 for design and integration. A first focused AI agent starts at CA$5,000. A training workshop starts at CA$1,500. In every case we start small: one limited scope, measured before we widen it.
Yes, and they are written separately in the quote. They cover hosting in Canada, maintenance and improvement, and model usage billed as consumed. For an SMB chatbot, that generally adds up to a few dozen to a few hundred dollars a month, depending on conversation volume. For an AI voice agent, the amount depends too much on call volume to be published here: the audit prices it item by item for your case.
A first automated process is in production in 2 to 6 weeks. A FAQ chatbot takes 2 to 4 weeks, 4 to 6 weeks when it is connected to your data, 6 to 10 weeks when it is transactional. A first AI agent takes a few weeks, 2 to 3 months once it is connected to several systems. A simple AI voice agent is deployed in a few weeks; integrated with your calendar and CRM, count on 1 to 3 months, testing included.
Yes, depending on the program and on your company. ESSOR stream 1 is a non-repayable contribution of up to 50% of eligible expenses, but its 1B and 1C sub-streams require 250 employees or fewer AND annual revenue of at least CA$2.5M. Mon succès numérique covers 50% of costs up to 100 hours, or 35% from 100 to 200 hours, up to CA$11,200, for SMBs with 500 employees or fewer: that is generally the most accessible one for a small business. We check your eligibility before building a file, and programs change: always check the version in force.
The range covers the build: scoping, design, connection to your systems, testing in Quebec French, going live, training your team, and the system’s Law 25 file — privacy impact assessment, processing register, list of subcontractors and the hosting region of every supplier. What is not in it: hosting, maintenance and model usage, written separately. Prices are indicative, in Canadian dollars, before taxes.
Yes: 30 minutes, no commitment, in person or remotely. We look at where time is lost, the tools and data you already have, your Law 25 constraints, the gains available, a clear estimate in Canadian dollars and the grants that fit. You leave with a prioritized list of projects, even if you never do business with us.
The blog articles that each take one piece of this page further, with their sources:
If you already know which task you want to hand to AI, start here:
The free AI audit takes 30 minutes. We look at your week, name the task to automate first, give you an estimate in Canadian dollars and check together which grants are actually open to you. No commitment.
Calling is the shortest path. By form or by email, we reply within 1 business day. The audit takes 30 minutes and commits you to nothing.