Quebec Companies Doing AI (That You Don’t Know)

When you think about AI, you probably think of OpenAI, Google, Meta. Big American machines. But in Quebec? We’ve got our own game. And you probably don’t know them.

The big players

Start with Element AI (now ServiceTitan, but the AI division is still here). Founded in 2016 in Montreal, it was one of the first real AI companies in Canada. Now, Element researchers continue working on important projects.

Scale AI is an accelerator that supports AI startups. It might not seem like “an AI company” in the same sense, but they’re the ones helping young companies get off the ground. Without them, many Quebec projects would have died.

Smaller, but tough

Companies like Intact Innovation, CloudNC, or Tacit Systems do AI for real problems: insurance, manufacturing, data. Never heard of them? That’s normal. They work B2B, not directly with the public. But they’re building solid stuff.

And then you have the labs: Mila (the research lab), Université de Montréal, Polytechnique — places where real discoveries happen, not just marketing.

Why don’t you know them?

Because doing serious AI isn’t sexy in the media. It’s not “ChatGPT will take your job,” it’s “we improved this algorithm by 2% and it’ll save millions in production costs.” Zzz.

But it matters. This is where the foundation of the real AI revolution is being built.

Want to discover these companies in more detail? Sherpa can help you filter info by region, or dig deeper at Laeka Research.