The builder's path
For: Oil-heated households must dig up paper invoices to claim the Home Heating Supplement.
“The unexamined life is not worth living.”
ὁ δὲ ἀνεξέταστος βίος οὐ βιωτὸς ἀνθρώπῳ
Routes to a solution
Each route is a different kind of journey, with real people and organisations to contact at each step, starting with those in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Step 1
Find a lab or university incubator
Researchers and students who can test it properly.
Newfoundland and Labrador's startup incubator: programmes, mentors and community.
Advice and funding for technology innovation in Canada.
Funded research internships linking students with organisations.
Tax credits that return part of what a Canadian business spends on research and development.
Step 2
Win a research grant
Funding for a rigorous trial or study.
Federal funding and advice for Atlantic Canadian businesses.
Funded research internships linking students with organisations.
Federal open data: the numbers a builder needs to size and test a public problem.
Quebec's AI institute in Montreal; partners with organisations on applied AI projects.
Ideas, sources and tools for this problem, from first interviews to funding.
eligibility, invoice rules and how to apply
the 2026 program dates and amounts
Runs the supplement and decides what proof is accepted.
They could give customers a yearly total instead of separate invoices.
They help people with paper applications and know where people get stuck.
Starter prompt
Built from this problem's brief. Paste it into Claude or any AI assistant.
Help me design and build a first working prototype for this problem in Newfoundland and Labrador. Problem: Oil-heated households must dig up paper invoices to claim the Home Heating Supplement. Who it hurts: Households heating with furnace or stove oil with 2025 family income of $150,000 or less. What people do today: Applicants send copies of invoices showing at least 250 litres of oil. What solved looks like: An eligible household can apply in one sitting, without hunting for old invoices, before the January 15, 2027 deadline. Where: Newfoundland and Labrador First, list what you would need to learn from the people affected before building, as interview questions. Then propose the simplest version that would help, the screens or messages it needs, and the data it would use. Keep it cheap to run, accessible, and respectful of people's privacy. Flag anything you are unsure about instead of guessing.
Talk to the people who live it before you build.
“Arise, awake; seek out the wise and learn.”
उत्तिष्ठत जाग्रत प्राप्य वरान्निबोधत
uttiṣṭhata jāgrata prāpya varān nibodhata
Get a working version in front of people fast.
Using AI is not cheating. Every tool carries the work of the people who made it, and using it well is how knowledge has always moved forward. The thinking, the care for the people who live the problem, and the judgement are still yours.
“The Analytical Engine weaves algebraical patterns just as the Jacquard-loom weaves flowers and leaves.”
Open data that fits this problem.
“Lead me from the unreal to the real, from darkness to light.”
असतो मा सद्गमय। तमसो मा ज्योतिर्गमय।
asato mā sad gamaya, tamaso mā jyotir gamaya
Tools matched to what this problem needs.
“If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants.”
Ship it responsibly, and find help and funding.
“Whatever a great person does, others follow.”
यद्यदाचरति श्रेष्ठस्तत्तदेवेतरो जनः
yad yad ācarati śreṣṭhas tat tad evetaro janaḥ
Kit written for this problem from its brief; every link was checked. Links go to each provider's own site. Zetema is not paid for any listing.