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Research and Development Funding
Research and Development funding is assisted by numerous programs
in Canada, but of primary importance are two administered
at the federal level: the SR&ED program and the Industrial
Research Assistance Program (IRAP). The first is a research
and development tax credit (returning as much as 35% in cash)
based on money already committed and spent by your company
and the second is a forward-focused government grant program
based on projected expenditures. Taken together, the two programs
work in harmony to help overcome the funding and risk gaps
otherwise facing business in bringing technology innovation
to fruition, wherever on the industrial spectrum it may be -
from
biodiesel to medical.
SR&ED and Industrial Research
Assistance Program (IRAP) Consultants
Technology Strategies Group Inc (TSGI) is ideally placed in
Canada's burgeoning area of economic activity (Calgary, Alberta,
Canada) to assist companies with the complementary paths of
project definition, description, and identification of associated
financial resources needed for both the SR&ED program
and Industrial Research Assistance Program. TSGI's experienced
Chartered Accountants and technology gurus team up to provide
a holistic approach to your company's research and development
funding needs. While government grant proposal writing is
the focus for Industrial Research Assistance Program, the
SR&ED program has strict financial rules that must be
followed both for the research
and development tax credit itself and to coordinate with general
tax filing. Both have a labyrinth of requirements that TSGI
is skilled at navigating through their decades of collective
consulting
experience with the programs.
New Product Development Funding
Both the SR&ED and Industrial Research Assistance programs
assist with funding (within each program's guidelines),
extending to new process / material / device development and
incremental improvements to existing products / processes
/ materials / devices. Each can broadly be described as a
technology development program; many others of lesser size
and extent exist for designated industries, fields of endeavour,
or targeted results (such as CO2 reduction projects) that
can generally be described as research funding grants. TSGI
has the flexibility and vision to assist
in a broad range of research and development funding.
New SR&ED Claim Process Now
in Full Rollout
Effective for taxation years ending after December 31 2008, Canada Revenue Agency has mandated a new SR&ED process that is likely to have significant implications. In a move to increase the automation of the assessment process, the most important changes include:
In contrast to the previous flexible guidelines and format, there will be a strict limit on project
description length to a total of 1400 words,with no provision for inclusion of photographs or diagrams.
This will challenge the effective communication of the intricacies of a large complex project.
A single field of science must be chosen from a specified list of industry codes to describe the field in
which a project's technological advance was attempted or achieved. If a project does not neatly fit into
a single field of technology, the field should be carefully chosen to place technological advances in the
proper context.
The types of documentation available to support a claim must be largely chosen from a list that fits
scientific research well, but may not reflect the typical business-context types of documentation that
are often generated in the course of experimental development projects. Going forward, TSGI can
work with you to improve your documentation processes.
During the approximate one-year transition to the new system, CRA's administrative policies will be
challenged by having to deal with two parallel process streams and the many subtle differences
between them.
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