SR&ED Tax Credits and Grants Blog
SR&ED 2024 – A Year-End Summary
As we look back on 2024, we’ve put together a summary of the most salient highlights in the SR&ED tax credit program. AI permeates all businesses At the close of the government’s 2023-2024 fiscal year, software development accounted for the largest...
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Navigating Recent Changes in SR&ED Claims: What You Need to Know
At RDP Associates, we’re committed to staying ahead of regulatory changes that impact SR&ED tax credits and government funding. A recent legislative update and a subsequent clarification from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) could offer significant benefits to your...
Watch Now: SR&ED, Clean Tech, IP Strategy, and Grants
Catch Up on Our Recent Webinar with Innovance.ai We recently partnered with innovance.ai to host an insightful webinar covering the latest updates and strategies in business funding and innovation. We shared our extensive knowledge of SR&ED tax credits and...
Prepping for non-dilutive Government funding in 2025
With only two months left in 2024, companies should be strategizing to align their 2025 projects with various government incentives. As we get deeper into the government’s fiscal year the amount of funding diminishes, and grant programs begin to close down. Grant...
The SR&ED landscape
The most recent statistics published by CRA are for the April 1, 2023 to March 31, 2024 government year. These statistics provide some insights and opportunities. SR&ED stats Overall, just over 21,500 SR&ED claims were processed. It is important to keep...
IRAP vs. SR&ED: What Are the Differences?
SR&ED and IRAP are among the most popular and sought-after government funding programs in the Canadian innovation ecosystem. Both programs are federal and related to R&D activities with significant impact on the completion of new product development and...
What’s an FTCAS? Should You Be Worried About Your SR&ED Claim?
You’ve just submitted your first SR&ED tax credit claim and naturally, you're feeling a bit anxious. Will you get audited? A few months later, you receive a call from an SR&ED auditor at the CRA, wanting to talk. Your mind may race with questions: Are we...
Four Key Tips for Writing Strong Technical Narratives for SR&ED
The SR&ED tax credit program is a valuable financial incentive that helps Canadian businesses offset the costs of research and development (R&D). However, to successfully claim SR&ED tax credits, companies must provide technical narratives for each project...
Unexpected Industries That Qualify for SR&ED Tax Credits
Technology is always changing, and it’s easy to forget that these advances impact every industry. When we think about SR&ED tax credits, tech and manufacturing companies usually come to mind first, which makes sense since about 80% of claims come from these...
Simplifying Your SR&ED Claims With The Innovation Connection Program
Navigating the world of SR&ED (Scientific Research and Experimental Development) tax credits can be challenging. But with our Innovation Connection Program, you’re not just making the most of your R&D investment—you’re simplifying the process and setting...
SR&ED: Software Development Trends in 2024
At the end of the government's 2023-2024 fiscal year, software development accounted for the largest number of SR&ED claims representing 39.3% of all claims filed. Second to software development was electrical engineering at 15.6%. Clearly, year over year software...
SR&ED for Medical Professional Corporations (MPC’s)
As most advisors know, the SR&ED tax credit program applies to a wide variety of industries and businesses. Our experience is that work involving medical research generally meets the SR&ED tax credit criteria as many technological uncertainties need to be...
SR&ED for Manufacturing – Optimizing Your Claim
Manufacturing has traditionally been a prime area eligible for SR&ED Tax Credits. With its inherent focus on innovation, process improvement, and technological advancement, the manufacturing sector continually generates opportunities for qualifying research and...
Canada’s 2024 Federal Budget: A Strategic Blueprint
Canada's Federal Budget for 2024 presents a robust plan aimed at nurturing innovation and fostering sustained economic growth across Canada. As we delve into the budget's details, it becomes evident that the focus is sharply on enhancing research and development,...
The Top Grants Trending Now For 2022
There does not appear to be any slow down in the government providing assistance through SR&ED tax credits; grants, or interest free loans.Here are the most popular grants being applied for now by companies: Canexport - this program funds 50% of...
New RDP Program For Start-Ups
We are pleased to announce a new program at RDP Associates that helps selected start-up companies receive better access and support to the SR&ED tax credit and government grant programs.When a client signs up for this program, they will receive: Regular...
Tax Credits And Grants Planning For 2022
This is the time of year when many companies start planning for 2022. As there are a multitude of tax credits and grants available to companies, many should consider these programs as part of their planning.One way to do this is for RDP to review their plan for 2022...
Potential Pitfall In Obtaining Government Assistance
Both the Federal and Provincial government offer assistance in the form of repayable contributions. FedDev is an example where in essence, the assistance is like a loan in that the funds you receive are repayable. However, typically the funds received do not...
CPA Professional Development
At this time of the year, many Accountants and Accounting Firms are planning for their own Professional Development and training of their staff and partners in the Fall. We get many requests from accounting firms for information, updates and strategy regarding...
Claiming Artificial Intelligence (AI) And Machine Learning (ML) Projects For SR&ED
Artificial intelligence, including machine learning and deep learning has grown in Canada to be a very important area of research and development in many industries such as; health sciences, security, robotics, autonomous systems, speech recognition, computer...
Reminder About The Taxable Income Rule
Recently we’ve had a few companies unaware of an important rule change in 2019 that pertains to SR&ED. Before 2019 companies over $800k in taxable income would have their federal SR&ED credit rate reduced to 15% non-refundable. The $800k taxable income limit...
Some Important Tax Credits To Keep In Mind
It is often easy to overlook certain tax credits that may apply to your company or your clients. This can occur where the tax credit is not well “publicized” or it only applies in rare situations. Here are a few tax credits to keep in mind and share with your...
Interactive Digital Media Tax Credit
If you have clients in the digital media industry they could be eligible for a tax credit. The government of Canada provides tax credits for digital media projects such as game development, educational software, animated simulators and more. Digital media tax...
Covid-19 Funding
With Covid-19 continuing to change the way in which we work, this blogpost will serve as a consolidated platform where we will continue to share the updates and changes various funding programs have in light of Covid-19. Please note that the information below is...
A Look at the Top 3 Business Grants for 2020
For over 30 years, we at RDP have been assisting companies to apply for business grants; so we know a thing or two about government funding programs. The following are what we predict to be the best grants to apply for in 2020: 1. Canexport This program is an...
How Does SR&ED Work? An Infographic on SR&ED Tax Credit Rates
The Scientific Research & Experimental Development (SR&ED) Tax Credit is a federal tax incentive administered by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) since 1986. Its purpose is to encourage Canadian businesses of all sizes and in all sectors to conduct research and...
Decrease in the number of SR&ED Claims and the Challenges of CRA Audits
Federal Government statistics released for the last four years confirm that the number of companies filing SRED claims has steadily decreased by over 15% from roughly 22,370 in 2014 down to 18,850 claims in 2018! Some people have attributed this to a decrease in...
Understanding Recent Changes to COJG Guidelines
There have been recent changes to the Canada-Ontario Job Grant (COJG) program. COJG is a government funding scheme designed to support employers that invest in staff training. Since 2014, the Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Development has been providing...
How Do You Choose the Right SR&ED Consultant?
When it comes to selecting a SR&ED consultant, the task is usually assigned to the CFO, or in smaller organizations, the owner. The selection process is typically based on receiving recommendations from a trusted friend or business associate. However, it is worth...
FinTech vs TechFin
Dana Doswell is Head of Strategy at Sidepart - a digital strategy firm that serves clients focused on North American, UK, and Latin American markets, helping them optimize the use of data in their marketing and sales strategies. Dana is also involved in ethical...
Had an Unpleasant SR&ED Claim Review by CRA?
The SR&ED tax credit program is odd in that from a tax policy viewpoint it is an incentive program, nudging companies to carry out more R&D in Canada and develop innovative products and processes. However, because the program is administered by CRA, one must...
Joseph Cafazzo on Digital Health in Canada
Dr. Joseph Cafazzo is a biomedical engineer, educator, and researcher. He is known for his work on the design of health technologies and how they facilitate patient self-care of complex chronic conditions. He has advised and conducted research for public sector policy...
Connective Intelligence and RDP Team Up to Execute Business Innovation
RDP Associates Inc. (RDP) specialize in helping businesses across Canada access a full range of government funding programs. For over thirty years its highly qualified team of experts have been advising and guiding businesses to obtain R&D funding and incentives...
A Look at the Climate Action Incentive Fund (CAIF)
The Climate Action Incentive Fund (CAIF) is a new grant that will provide funding to SMEs ranging from $20,000 to $250,000 CAD covering up to 25% of a project’s eligible costs. The funding is for projects that lower GHG emissions and energy usage. The program is...
How to Win Large Business Grants
Canadian government grants don't just cover small businesses. They're also available to selected large industrial projects When it comes to grants provided to businesses for Innovation, Canada has been a very generous country. Not many other industrialized countries...
To Boost Exports, CanExport Loosens Eligibility Requirements
To Boost Exports, CanExport Loosens Eligibility Requirement CanExport is a federal grant program that provides funding to SMEs to develop new and emerging export opportunities. Beginning August 22, 2019, Funding limit for SME projects will increase from $50,000 (that...
What is the Automotive Supplier Competitiveness Program?
A Look at the Automotive Supplier Competitiveness Improvement Program (ASCIP) Grant One of the common factors among most government grant programs is the considerable amount of time it takes to write the application, with the funding never being guaranteed. When...
Funding SMEs in Alberta: A Top Priority for the Province
Alberta is widely regarded as one of the best places to start a new business. With over 18,300 new small businesses created in the province between 2012 and 2017, it currently boasts the second highest proportion of small business per capita (after PEI) and is far...
A Tale of Two Budgets
It seems the Federal and Ontario Governments have truly opposing agendas and policies. While areas like carbon tax receive a lot of press coverage, each government’s position on SR&ED tax credits and innovation, in general, appears to be heading to different...
NGen: Canada’s Advanced Manufacturing Supercluster
Many companies in Canada have been waiting the for 5 Superclusters to open. NGen is now accepting applications for membership. The focus of this Supercluster is on advanced manufacturing. Membership to NGen is free. Once you become a member, you can access information...
Whose SR&ED is it Anyway?
When companies develop new products, be it software, machinery, consumer goods, or technology, it is not unusual for the corporation, particularly SMEs, to hire a contractor to perform some or all of the work. Historically, over 90% of the time, these corporations...
Do you need to perform testing for SR&ED eligibility?
Most companies that claim SR&ED tax credits will never end up in court over dispute of an assessment by CRA. However, how the courts view SR&ED cases helps companies understand both the pitfalls and opportunities. In the case of Life Choice Ltd. V The Queen...
CleanTech is Canada’s Biggest Business Grant Priority
Cleantech grants and related industries are the biggest funding priority for Canada. Even if you aren’t a cleantech company, your company’s development or improvement project could be eligible for cleantech funding. When Canada’s 2017 Federal Budget was released, it...
Six Ways to Spot Grant Scams
When the Going Gets Tough...the Funding Gets Fake For small business owners starting up or growing a business, grant funding can be an excellent source of support to tackle big projects and improve your bottom line. Most business funding is offered by government...
Canada’s Future Lies in AI. What Does That Mean For My Business?
There’s a lot of buzz these days about Canada as an AI hub. Over the past several years, Canada has made a name for itself as a leader in the field, with centres of expertise in Montreal, Toronto-Waterloo and Edmonton. Our universities have been global leaders in this...
Top 5 Reasons Your Grant Applications are Denied and How to Avoid Them
As a Canadian government grants specialist, I have written and submitted hundreds of various government business grant applications for companies from a whole range of business verticals. This includes applications for business startup grants in Ontario and elsewhere....
Business Scale-Up Funding Now Available for Women Entrepreneurs
Following on the heels of the announcement of the Women Entrepreneurship Strategy (WES) Ecosystem Fund earlier this month, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) has just announced the details of the Women Entrepreneurship Fund (WEF). The fund is a...
New CleanTech Fund for Plastic Innovations
Innovative Solutions Canada Challenges is a federal government procurement program providing over $100 million to support the scale-up and growth of Canada’s innovators. Twenty different federal departments and agencies contribute funding to this program, and each...
Canadian Hiring Grants and Wage Subsidies: What You Need to Know
The Canadian government offers many different grants, subsidies, and credits to employers that plan to hire new staff. The general purpose of these funding programs is to help Canadian businesses create new jobs and incentivize them to give those jobs to the citizens...
Innovation Starts, Develops, and Ends with People
For all the chest beating about technology, industrial disruption and the new economy, the simple fact of the matter is that innovation strategy starts, develops and ends with people. And for the most part, it is well understood by business, research and...
An In-depth Look at Ontario Agri Grants
With dozens of different streams of funding to support a wide range of business activities, Ontario’s Canadian Agricultural Partnership (CAP) program offers grants to businesses in the agriculture sector. They include farmers, cannabis growers, and food and beverage...
Agri-food Startups Can Access Grant Funding Worth $1 billion in Canada
The following piece was originally published in AgriFunder News The government of Canada has a strategic approach to the agriculture and agri-food industries. Currently, Ottawa is investing CAD$3 billion over a five-year period through federal and...
OCE TalentEdge and AIME Funds Apply to Many Businesses
Two funding programs, the OCE TalentEdge and AIME, are from two different institutions that target hiring and training. They are not new programs but have been re-funded with the goal of supporting Ontario's work force, both existing and new grads. OCE TalentEdge...
6 Steps to Never Miss a Grant Deadline
The government of Canada offers a multitude of small business grants to encourage growth, innovation, and economic development for Canadian small businesses. These government grants can provide a significant cash injection to jumpstart a project and become a key...
Mark D. Penner on Canada’s New IP Strategy
Introduction: Mark D. Penner is an intellectual property (“IP”) lawyer with Fasken. He works in the firm’s Intellectual Property practice group. Mark’s practice focuses on all aspects of the acquisition, protection, enforcement, and strategic use of a wide range of...
How Ontario’s Budget Enhances Incentives for Film & TV Websites via OIDMTC
Introduction If you are planning to develop a website in Ontario for a film, television or internet production you could be eligible for tax credits that can help reimburse you on this expense. The province of Ontario is paying attention to the film and television...
Darren Larsen on the State of Digital Health in Canada
Dr. Darren Larsen is Chief Medical Information Officer (CMIO) at OntarioMD. As CMIO, Darren provides clinical advice to many provincial and national steering committees and clinician advisory groups and has been instrumental in forging system-level partnerships in...
A Different Way to Look at Government Grants
The following piece was originally published in Computer Dealer News. When most businesses think about government innovation grants, they consider it in the context of how much government funding they can obtain to directly fund their development, commercialization,...
SR&ED Incentives in Ontario Budget Like OITC
The recent 2018 Ontario budget announcement includes some changes designed to make it easier to grow your business. Ontario-based businesses can benefit from increases to the provincial funds available under the Scientific Research & Experimental Development...
Have You Considered Improving Productivity Through CME SMART Green Funding?
Are you a manufacturer located in Ontario and interested in increasing your productivity? Perhaps you have been considering upgrading process and production equipment to increase your facility’s efficiency, but the internal rate of return isn’t as appealing as you...
What can you do to accelerate Adoption of Innovation in Healthcare?
Larry Arshoff is president and founder of Diagnosis, Solutions & Results Inc. (DS&R). He has over 30 years of experience in building and growing medical device and pharma businesses. Larry has over two decades executive and management experience including...
Grants vs. Tax Credits – What Are the Differences?
When looking through dozens of different funding options available to businesses in Canada, our clients often ask us – what is the difference between a grant and a tax credit? How do I know which fund is right for my project? Companies that have been claiming...
Are There Grants for the Life Sciences-Biotech Industry?
Most people are surprised to learn that Canada gives out more funding than most other countries by way of businesses grants. Most grant programs are generic, which means a funding program can be applied to by many businesses from a whole range of industries. Apart...
Amir Feizpour on Canadian AI
Amir Feizpour is a Senior Manager at the Enterprise Data Science team at the Royal Bank of Canada. He is also a Scientific Advisor at SEMA Lab. At RBC, Amir manages a small team with a focus on enabling internal clients with data science tools and practices. Prior to...
How Does IT Fit in a New Grant Landscape?
The following piece was originally published in IT Business Canada Over the last two years, the federal government has introduced many new incentives for research and development, mainly by way of small business grants or non-repayable contributions. In addition,...
Is SR&ED Properly Rewarding FinTech Companies?
Filing for SR&ED tax credits today in Canada is facing a new reality. CRA now screens over 60% of SR&ED claims and carries out site audits on at least 20% of them. Moreover, depending on your geographic location, when site audits are carried out, claims are...
John Lester on Government Business Grants in Canada
Introduction: John Lester is a former federal government economist who writes on public policy issues. John’s last public service assignment was Director of Research for the Expert Panel Review of Federal Support to Research and Development. Prior to that, he managed...
How to Sustain Momentum in Supercluster Initiative
The following Piece was originally published in IT World Canada. What is needed to sustain momentum and success in Canada’s innovation superclusters? In February 2018, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, Navdeep Bains, introduced the five winners...
Are Government Grants a Right Funding Mechanism?
The following piece was originally published in ITBusiness.ca Many people are surprised to learn that Canada gives out more grants to businesses, small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in particular, than most other countries. When we compare grant funding for...
South Korea, an Untapped Gateway to the Asia Pacific Markets
It is time that Canadian businesses leveraged the Korean market and its immense potential to open new doors for them to the rest of Asia. A Glance at the South Korean Market South Korea is the world’s 11th largest economy (13th by PPP) and the fourth largest economy...
The State of SR&ED Tax Credits: How Did We Get Here?
As you may have seen, back in July 2017, the Canadian Advanced Technology Association (CATA) published its “Update on SR&ED Tax Credits” and the news was concerning, to say the least. The headline news was that in the 7 years from 2009 to 2016, the aggregate tax...
When Should I Apply For a Government Business Grant?
Applicants for government grant programs are never guaranteed approval, as there is a range of factors at play impacting their eligibility. It is best to maximize your chances of approval by focusing on aspects of your business that you have some control over. It is...
Jennifer Zelmer on Canadian Healthcare Innovation
Dr. Jennifer Zelmer is President and CEO of the Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement. She is also President of Azimuth Health Group. In this capacity, she provides a range of advisory services to local, national, and international clients who seek to advance...
A Look at SR&ED and Beyond
The following piece was originally published in IT WORLD Canada The SR&ED tax credit program has been in existence since 1985. The Budget Papers published in 1985 stated that the purpose of the program was to keep Canadian businesses competitive and growing. Since...
Five Key Steps to Introduce Innovation In Healthcare
Editor's Note: Larry Arshoff is president and founder of Diagnosis, Solutions & Results Inc. (DS&R). He has over 30 years of experience in building and growing medical device and pharma businesses. Larry has over two decades executive and management experience...
A Roadmap to a Successful Product Development
Product development is hard, time-consuming and requires great diligence. In working with thousands of businesses over the past 30 years, who develop new products each year, today there is even more demand to get a new product out on the market sooner. It is easy to...
Janice Francisco on Canadian Innovation
Introduction Janice Francisco is the CEO of BridgePoint Effect, a Toronto-based firm that helps managers and their teams solve the mystery of what it means to be innovative, and teaches them how to use creativity to get innovation done. Operating at the intersection...
An Update on CME Smart Program
In June and July of 2017 the Canadian Manufacturing Exporters (CME), in partnership with the Government of Ontario launched a $25 million fund known as CME SMART Green Program. The Fund was designed to assist eligible small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME)...
Canada Wants Business Innovation, But What Does That Mean?
Where SR&ED answers questions about the underlying principles of science and applied technology, innovation answers a broader set of questions about the interplay of technology and business. The Innovation and Skills Plan As most of us in the Canadian business...
How Canada is Conquering the FinTech Space
Insights from Industry Leaders Canada’s FinTech industry today is one of the most dynamic—and for good reason—the coolest industries on the Canadian tech scene. All signs point to its ability to fundamentally reinvent the existing order in the country’s financial...
What Makes Strategic Innovation Fund Attractive? Size and Openness
Since its opening, program officials responsible for the Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF) have been inundated with Statements of Interest, application requests and a whole range of inquiries from Canadian businesses about their eligibility. My sources tell me that...
Who Will Be the Winners in Innovation Superclusters Initiative?
In its 2017 spring budget, the federal government of Canada announced that it would select and contribute $950 million for the establishment of four or five innovation Superclusters in Canada. At the time of announcement, the government asked industry and technology...
Strategic Innovation Fund: Putting Canada on the Global Innovation Lab
In 2020 a new bridge will connect the city of Detroit in the U.S to Windsor in Canada. The bridge, Gordie Howe International Bridge, is named after the Canadian Hockey legend and an addition to the current Ambassador suspension bridge that was built in 1929. The...
Lessons Learned: SR&ED and New Product Development
I don't like to prepare for it Most companies hate preparing for, or participating in SR&ED claims. It goes without saying that preparations for SR&ED and efforts to ensure eligibility of work in SRED take an enormous amount of time and internal resources. But...
How Much Do You Know About Recent Changes to COJG Guidelines?
Support for Staff Training There have been recent changes to the Canada-Ontario Job Grant (COJG) program. COJG is a government funding scheme designed to support employers that invest in staff training. Since 2014, the Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills...
A look at the Innovation Debate: Small Guys vs. Big Shots
For many years, the debate about innovation has centered around the merits of large companies vs small ones. I’d like to offer some of our observations that are based on what we have seen at RDP in over three decades of helping our clients of all sizes maximize the...