Free Money for Your Tech Build

No repayment. No equity. Most business owners who qualify never apply, because nobody told them they could.

These are Canadian programs for Canadian companies. If your business is US-based, they do not apply to your build.

SR&ED Tax Credits

Run by the CRA. Claimed on your corporate tax return. You do not have to succeed to qualify, you have to genuinely investigate.

• 35% back for Canadian-controlled private corporations
• Pre-revenue companies are eligible
• 18 months from fiscal year end to file. Miss it and it's gone
• Work must be done in Canada to qualify
• Reduces tax payable or results in a refund
• SR&ED consultants work on contingency. You pay nothing until your refund is secured

What qualifies

Building on top of existing software can qualify. The CRA specifically includes incremental improvements to existing products under experimental development. You are not disqualified because something similar already exists.

• Experimental development: testing whether a technical approach will work when you genuinely do not know if it will
• Applied research: advancing knowledge with a practical application in mind
• Programming, testing, and data collection that directly support the above

Real story

A personal support worker contracted with multiple agencies. She wanted an app to manage her own certifications, availability, and compliance from one place. The problem: every tool that existed was built for agencies, not workers. Nobody had solved it from her side. That is what made it SR&ED eligible. Not that the technology was new. That the problem, from that angle, had never been solved.

What is technological uncertainty?

It means you did not know at the start whether your approach would work. Not "we were not sure which tool to use." More like: we did not know if this was technically possible at all, and we had to experiment to find out. The personal support worker story is a clean example. A similar app existed. Her uncertainty was whether the problem, from that angle, had ever been solved. It had not.

What does not qualify

• Building with existing, well-understood technology the same way it has always been used
• Market research or user preference testing
• Routine quality control or testing
• Training your team
• Work done outside Canada
• Hiring someone to apply knowledge they already have

The one question that decides everything: are you solving a problem where the technical answer is genuinely unknown? Or are you implementing something that has been done before? SR&ED is for the first one only.

What to document

The CRA does not just want to know what you built. They want to know what you were trying to solve, what you tried, and what you learned. Start keeping records from day one. Not at tax time.

• The technical problem you defined at the start
• Your hypothesis for how to solve it
• What you tested and what the results were
• What you concluded, even if that conclusion was "that approach does not work"
• Who worked on what and when: timesheets, invoices, and payment records for employees and contractors
• Meeting notes, design documents, test logs

A failed experiment with thorough documentation qualifies. A successful product with no paper trail does not. We keep and provide technical records throughout every build, so our clients have everything they need to support a SR&ED claim.

Contractors and SR&ED

If your developers are contractors, their work can count. 80% of what you paid an arm's length contractor counts as eligible spending. Then the 35% credit applies to that amount. Paid a contractor $100,000? $80,000 enters the calculation, you get $28,000 back. Work must have been done in Canada and must have directly supported the R&D. How you structure your development partnerships matters from day one.

Real client story

One business owner paid $28,000 to build her MVP. She received $10,000 in non-dilutive funding through Alberta Innovates first. She is now applying SR&ED credits to recover a portion of what she paid out of pocket. One build. Multiple layers of funding working together.

IRAP Grants

Cash, not a tax credit. Run by the National Research Council of Canada. One phone call to find out if you qualify. Call 1-877-994-4727 to start. It's free.

• Incorporated Canadian companies with 500 or fewer employees
• Pre-revenue companies are eligible
• Commercialization intent required, real product, real plan

What it is for: companies actively doing technical R&D with a real plan to bring something to market. Not research for research's sake. You need to demonstrate credible commercial intent.

Stacking IRAP and SR&ED: you can use both programs for the same project. But IRAP money you receive reduces your SR&ED eligible spending dollar for dollar. Talk to an accountant who knows SR&ED before planning around combining them.

Funding By Province

Two Things to Sort Out Before You Apply

Your IP has to be yours.

To claim SR&ED or receive IRAP funding, the work and the code must legally belong to you. Not your developer. Not your agency. Most contracts are not written to protect the business owner. Read our IP Protection guide before you sign anything. Free. No email required.

Grants are reimbursement-based.

You spend first. You apply. Then you wait. Then you get some back. This is not a way to fund a project from zero. It is a way to recover a meaningful portion of money you were going to spend anyway. Our Tech Innovation Roadmap covers every option with real numbers.

Programs change. Verify current terms before planning around them. These layer on top of federal programs. Apply separately for each. Most are reimbursement-based and require a cash contribution from you first.

Building in Canada keeps your project eligible.

You have a budget. You want to stretch it further. That is who we work with at this stage. If you want a second opinion on whether your project sounds SR&ED or IRAP eligible, we are happy to take a look. We know what documentation matters. And if you need a SR&ED consultant, we can make an introduction.

No pitch. No pressure. Just a straight conversation.