Software Development and SR&ED

Software development is a key industry when it comes to R&D in Canada – in 2008 there were over 55,000 computer systems design and related companies operating in Canada, and that number continues to grow. Between smartphone apps and cloud… Read more »

Harper signals Canada’s looming R&D revamp

Canadian Prime Minister Harper reiterated possible amendments to the Canadian SR&ED program at the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland on Thursday. “We believe that Canada’s less than optimal results for those investments is a significant problem for our country,” Mr. Harper… Read more »

Harper hints at R&D tax break overhaul

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is hinting that Ottawa will overhaul a $3.5-billion SR&ED program.  The recent Jenkins Report recommended that the SR&ED tax credit be made simpler and smaller.  Among suggested changes to the Scientific Research & Experimental Development program,… Read more »

Productivity is Innovation, Not Invention

On October 17, 2011, the federally appointed panel, chaired by Open Text chief strategy officer Tom Jenkins, released an assessment of the government’s $7-billion in annual investment in “business R&D”. The report recommended significant changes to the incentive programs and… Read more »

The Jenkins Report

A year ago, Tom Jenkins (chairman and chief strategy officer at Open Text Corp) was asked to lead a committee that was going to investigate how Canada can see better results from the money being spent on innovation in Canada.… Read more »

The CRA’s SR&ED Service Standards

The CRA released their average processing times for claims during the months of April 2011 through September 2011. Overall, it’s looking a lot better than it was previously – the total average numbers have all fallen since we last spoke… Read more »

SR&ED in the National Post

There was an interesting article in the National Post entitled, A little bit of give and take about a claimant’s experience with the SR&ED program over the years. The article explores how CRA reviews of claims used to be about… Read more »