SR&ED
(Scientific Research & Experimental Development)
Canadian federal tax incentive designed to encourage R&D, offering over $4 billion annually to businesses of all sizes on eligible expenditures like salaries, contractors, and materials used for scientific or technological advancements.
If your company:
Innovates Products
Develops new products or makes functional improvements to existing ones, beyond industry standards.
Architects custom software features, refines complex algorithms, or solves hard tech. problems.
Overcomes challenges throughprocess of experimentation where solution is not readily available.
Optimizes Software
Solves Tech. Roadblocks
Tests Prototypes
Builds and tests multiple versions of a design to evaluate performance, including failed attempts.
You likely qualify for a minimum 35% cash refund, or up to $2.1 million per year, in refundable tax credits on your eligible R&D expenditures.
New in 2026!
Canada is currently undergoing the most significant modernization of the SR&ED program in over a decade.
Now doubling expenditure limits, reinstating cost eligibility for the first time since 2014, and introducing AI-assisted claim screening.
The below changes are effective for tax years beginning on or after December 16, 2024, with administrative shifts fully active in April 2026.
Annual limit for the 35% refundable credit has increased from $3M to $6M, doubling the maximum potential annual cash refund to $2.1M - one of the largest expansions of the SR&ED program since inception.
Eligible Canadian Public Corporations can now access the 35% refundable rate, providing publicly traded firms with direct cash refunds rather than just non-refundable credits.
Machinery, equipment and leased R&D assets used 90% for R&D (acquired after Dec 15, 2024) are once again eligible for tax credits, finally allowing firms to recover costs on hardware and lab infrastructure.
Taxable capital phase-out ranges have increased to $15M – $75M, and companies can now elect to use gross revenue as a metric to protect their 35% refund rate as they grow.
A new Fast-Track process starting April 1, 2026 offers upfront technical validation and greater audit certainty, and reduces review times from 180 to 90 days.
The CRA has integrated AI-driven risk assessment to automatically clear low-risk claims, reducing unnecessary audit interventions and resulting in expedited refunds for standard submissions within 60 days.
The challenge?
Increased Scrutiny
Claims now facing detailed AI review, rejection rates are rising, overstated claims trigger gross negligence penalties (50%)
Form requires 8-12 pages of technical narratives using specific CRA terminology, plus detailed financial schedules
Most companies pay 15-20% of refund to a consultant, or try to DIY and spend 80-120 hours figuring it out (and getting it wrong)
Complex Tech Requirements
Expensive Consultants
Rejection/Low Participation
Claims face CRA audits and rejections. At least 30% to 50% of eligible companies fail to claim the SR&ED tax credit.
The solution?
We serve the 60,000+ Canadian companies priced out by traditional SR&ED consultants.
Through intelligent automation and CPA diligence, SR&ED claims are prepared professionally without the 15-20% contingency fees.
No generic non-CPA consultants.
No surprise pricing.
AI-Powered SR&ED | CPA-Quality | Built for SMEs
Choose the service level that fits your needs. All prices listed. No surprises.
As of April 2026, the CRA uses AI to flag claims, so the value of a CPA-led narrative has tripled.
We optimize your narratives and financial tracking to pass automated risk-filters on the first pass, ensuring your refund isn't caught in an 18-month audit loop.
✓ Everything in Tier 1
✓ 45-minute deep-dive technical strategy session to identify all eligible R&D work.
✓ Narrative Blueprinting: custom technical outlines (client fills in technical specifics)
✓ Professional T661 Assembly: Building the final submission (narratives, financials, supporting schedules), including full Part 9 Tax Preparer sign-off.
✓ Draft Review: One round of CPA red-pen feedback to ensure narratives don't trigger a CRA 'low-risk' rejection.
✓ CRA Form T661 Assembly (narratives, financials, supporting schedules)
✓ 30-day email support
Client Responsibility:
Writing core technical descriptions based on our blueprints
Providing a clean export of R&D-related payroll and contractor invoices
Final review and e-filing (we provide instructions)
DIY Toolkit
$1,000 one-time
✓ Free eligibility screening (CPA Reviewed)
✓ 15-minute CPA consultation call
✓ Master Template (CRA Form T661): CPA-built narrative templates updated for the 2026 Capital Expenditure rules
✓ Technical narrative writing guide with examples
✓ Financial calculation template: calculator for salaries, contractors, and the 55% proxy overhead amount
✓ Audit-proof tutorial: breakdown on documenting commit logs and technical obstacles to satisfy the CRA’s new AI-driven triage
✓ 15-day email support: direct line to a CPA for quick questions
Client Responsibility:
Drafting all technical narratives and project descriptions
Calculating final eligible expenditures from your ledger
Filling out and filing the T661 and T2 schedules with the CRA
✓ White-glove narrative writing: our CPA interviews your team and helps write the entire claim
✓ Elective Pre-Claim Approval: Managing the new April 2026 Pre-Claim process to get projects validated upfront, cutting refund wait times to 90 days.
✓ Full Filing & CRA Correspondence: we handle all CRA back-and-forth and direct filing
✓ Audit Shield: In the event of a CRA technical or financial review, we lead the defense at no extra cost
✓ Capital Asset Optimization: Specialized auditing of equipment purchases to maximize your refundable credits
Client Responsibility:
Tech Interview with our CPA writer
Granting read-only access to payroll/accounting systems
Final approval of the claim
Professional Assembly
$2,500 per engagement
Full Service & Audit Shield
$3,500 one-time + 5-10% of refund (only if successful)
