Powering Productivity: La Caisse Renews AI Program for Québec Firms

MONTRÉAL, QC – February 10, 2026 – La Caisse has announced the renewal of its AI Expertise Program, a strategic initiative designed to accelerate the adoption of artificial intelligence within Québec’s established businesses. Building on the success of its inaugural year, the program, powered by applied AI specialist Vooban, reaffirms a commitment to enhancing the productivity and global competitiveness of the province's core industries.

The renewal comes after a successful first edition that saw approximately 20 companies from across Québec—spanning sectors from manufacturing and transportation to insurance and technology—receive personalized support. The program is a cornerstone of La Caisse's dual mandate: generating returns for its depositors and actively contributing to Québec's economic development by equipping local companies with next-generation tools.

From Diagnosis to Deployment

At the heart of the initiative is a structured and pragmatic approach designed to demystify AI and make it accessible for businesses that may not have dedicated data science teams. The program is built around a six-month "innovation sprint," running from April to September, which guides participating companies from abstract ideas to concrete, actionable projects.

The process begins with a diagnostic phase, where experts from Vooban, a firm recognized as Canada's AI Company of the Year in 2023, work closely with a company's leadership and operational teams. The goal is to identify specific areas where AI and automation can create the most significant value. This is not a theoretical exercise; it involves a deep dive into a company's unique operations, data, and business model to pinpoint opportunities with high impact potential.

Following the diagnostic, the program moves to defining a feasible project with a clear scope and expected return on investment. The types of projects can vary dramatically based on the company's needs, from developing a predictive sales forecasting tool to integrating computer vision to improve quality control on an assembly line. This hands-on approach reflects Vooban's track record of delivering tangible results, such as helping manufacturer Patates Dolbec achieve 25% efficiency gains in quality control by retrofitting sorting machines with AI, or increasing productivity by 40% for RPM Eco through predictive maintenance.

The outcome for each participant is a comprehensive project blueprint, complete with a recommended solution, technical feasibility analysis, budget, and an estimated ROI. The program specifically targets projects that can deliver measurable results within a two-year timeframe, ensuring that the investment in innovation translates quickly into bottom-line performance.

Cultivating a Provincial AI Ecosystem

The program is more than a series of individual consulting engagements; it represents a key pillar in strengthening Québec's broader AI ecosystem. While Montréal is globally recognized as a hub for fundamental AI research, this initiative focuses on the crucial next step: applied AI. By helping established companies integrate this technology, La Caisse and Vooban are ensuring that the province's research prowess translates into widespread economic benefits.

"Renewing the program shows La Caisse's commitment to making the expertise of its partner network available to local companies to support Québec's economic development," said Kim Thomassin, Executive Vice-President and Head of Québec, at La Caisse. "In collaboration with Vooban, we work with Québec companies to find the most promising opportunities and help them move quickly by deploying solutions that have a strong impact on efficiency, productivity and competitiveness."

This collaborative model, where a major institutional investor partners with a specialized technology firm, is critical. It provides a mechanism for transferring cutting-edge knowledge to the industries that form the backbone of the regional economy. The focus on a diverse range of sectors—from traditional manufacturing to modern services—ensures that the benefits of AI are not siloed within the tech industry but are used to modernize and future-proof the entire economic landscape. This approach also addresses pressing economic challenges, such as labor shortages, by using automation to augment human capabilities and optimize workflows.

A Strategic Focus on Established Businesses

A key feature of the AI Expertise Program is its specific eligibility criteria. To participate, companies must be headquartered in Québec and have annual sales of at least $25 million. This sales threshold signals a deliberate strategy to focus on established, mid-sized to larger enterprises.

By targeting companies of this scale, the program ensures participants have the organizational maturity and financial capacity to not only invest in an innovation project but, more importantly, to execute it successfully. Implementing AI often requires significant changes to processes and workflows, and these more established companies are better positioned to manage that transformation and absorb the new technology into their core operations.

Furthermore, the focus on businesses with significant revenue and operational complexity means that successful AI projects can generate a more substantial and measurable impact. Improving the efficiency of a high-volume assembly line or optimizing the logistics for a large distribution network yields a far greater net benefit to the provincial economy than smaller-scale projects might. The criteria also require that companies can mobilize their leadership teams and have the potential for significant productivity improvements, reinforcing the program's focus on tangible, high-impact outcomes.

The requirement that projects involve a low to moderate level of technological risk further underscores the program's pragmatic nature. It prioritizes the application of proven AI techniques to solve real-world business problems, de-risking the innovation process and increasing the likelihood of a successful, profitable deployment. This strategic selection process aims to create a portfolio of success stories that can inspire broader AI adoption across Québec.