For the past couple of years, there has been a lot of talk about how Canadian companies are falling behind companies from other countries when it comes to the commercialization of our innovations. In February 2010, the Conference Board of Canada gave Canada a “D” for the ability to turn knowledge into commercialized products and services, which ranked us 14th out of 17 countries.

Since that point in time, many review boards have been formed, many reports have been written, and many debates have been sparked about what can be done to help Canadians bring their products to market. That’s not to say that there aren’t companies who already are quite successful in developing innovative products – it just means that compared to other countries, the majority of Canadian companies don’t profit as much from the sales of innovative products on the market.

What Canadian companies do have to their benefit, and which can be used to help us create more innovative products, is one of the most generous programs that supports the creation and development of innovative products – the federal Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) program.

Each year, through this program the Canadian federal government provides an average over $3 billion to Canadian companies who are creating new products, modifying existing products, creating new manufacturing processes, or developing their own software. As easy and straightforward as it sounds, the CRA estimates that nearly 50% of companies that are eligible for the SR&ED program do not actually apply for it. In most cases, this is because many Canadian business owners do not realize that what they are doing fully qualifies as Scientific Research and Experimental Development. So, ask yourself – have you developed a new product? Improved an already existing one? Changed a process? If you have, there is a good probability that you may be missing out on a reimbursement program that could provide your company with some much-needed cash refunds.

Depending on where a company is located, they could receive anywhere from a total of 35% through 48% refunds on eligible costs when both federal and provincial programs are taken into account. This money can then be reinvested in these companies to help create more innovation.

By creating new products, by modifying older products, and by developing new processes, we can work at becoming a more innovative nation. The SR&ED program is a vital key to helping companies have the funds needed to continue with innovative work that Canadian companies are doing.

Sometimes it can be hard to see that what you are working on is an SR&ED activity. When you are working on the same project day after day, and when the development takes a long time, you may not realize that you are increasing your technological or scientific knowledge. For this reason, it can be important to have an outside consultant come in and help you with the process of identifying SR&ED projects. Ensuring that you aren’t missing out on any eligible SR&ED expenditures is one of the first ways to taking advantage of the SR&ED program.

Author Bio: NorthBridge Consulting Services is a group of full service SR&ED consulting experts, who excel in working with you to make sure you get back the best value for your SR&ED claim.

Category: Business
Keywords: sr&ed, sred, r&d, research and development, experimental reseach and scientific development