Tax Credit
Federal
Active
Clean Electricity Investment Tax Credit (CEITC)
Canada Revenue Agency / Natural Resources Canada
Maximum Credit
15% of eligible costs
December 31, 2034 (program end date for eligible property). Claim filed with ...
Difficulty
Moderate
Payment
Tax Credit Offset
Trend
New Program
First-Timers
Friendly ✓
Credit rate
15%
Clean Electricity Investment Tax Credit (CEITC) provides up to 15% refundable tax credit on eligible capital costs (5% if labour requirements not met). No dollar cap — scales with eligible investment. Refundable 15% investment tax credit on eligible capital costs of clean electricity generation, storage, and inter-provincial transmission equipment, enacted March 26, 2026 via Bill C-15 with retroactive effect to April 16, 2024 (December 16, 2024 for the Canada Infrastructure Bank; November 4, 2025 for Canada Growth Fund Inc. and its wholly-owned subsidiaries). Applications are accepted December 31, 2034 (program end date for eligible property). Claim filed with annual T2 or T3 return..
Approval odds: ~5–15% (GrantCompass analysis)
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Eligibility & Details
What this program funds and who can apply
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Program Description
Refundable 15% investment tax credit on eligible capital costs of clean electricity generation, storage, and inter-provincial transmission equipment, enacted March 26, 2026 via Bill C-15 with retroactive effect to April 16, 2024 (December 16, 2024 for the Canada Infrastructure Bank; November 4, 2025 for Canada Growth Fund Inc. and its wholly-owned subsidiaries). Equipment must be situated in and used exclusively in Canada and must not have been previously used. Full 15% rate requires meeting prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements; non-compliant projects receive 5%.
Eligibility Requirements
- Taxable Canadian corporations
- Municipalities and their wholly-owned corporations (90%+ ownership by municipality or Aboriginal government)
- Aboriginal government-owned corporations (90%+ Aboriginal government ownership)
- Designated provincial and territorial Crown corporations
- Qualifying pension corporations
- Canada Growth Fund and Canada Infrastructure Bank
- Qualifying trusts
- Qualifying corporations must hold a business number with a corporation income tax (RC) program account
- Property must be acquired and become available for use between April 16, 2024 and December 31, 2034 — the start date is December 16, 2024 for the Canada Infrastructure Bank and November 4, 2025 for Canada Growth Fund Inc. and its wholly-owned subsidiaries
- Equipment must be situated in and intended for use exclusively in Canada
- Property must not have been previously used, or acquired for use or lease, for any purpose before acquisition
- Claims including qualified natural gas energy equipment require a qualified natural gas energy system evaluation issued by NRCan, plus ongoing emissions-intensity reporting
- Construction of the property must not have commenced before March 28, 2023
- Full 15% rate requires commitment to prevailing wage and apprenticeship standards for manual labourers on the project
Provinces
Industries
Business Stage
Quick Assessment
Difficulty
Moderate
Competition
Low
First-Timer
Friendly
Funding Details
- Amount
- 15% refundable tax credit on eligible capital costs (5% if labour requirements not met). No dollar cap — scales with eligible investment.
- Type
- Tax Credit
- Level
- Federal
- Credit rate
- Up to 15% of eligible costs
- Deadline
- December 31, 2034 (program end date for eligible property). Claim filed with annual T2 or T3 return.
Program Scorecard
Competition, effort, and approval at a glance
Competition
Low
Deadline
Dec 31, 2034
Approval
Entitlement
Approval Rate
~5–15%
Accessibility
--/5
Competition
--/5
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What's in this Playbook
Everything you need to claim CEITC
Not a marketing summary. The actual checklist, intel, and stack strategy reviewers look for.
- 9 rejection pitfalls reviewers flag — so you catch them first
- 11-document checklist with what each reviewer is actually checking
- 7-step application timeline with prep hours per step
- Insider tip from program officers on what separates winners
- 4-program stacking strategy to combine with compatible funding
- Success profile + evaluation criteria — exactly what the program administrators check
$19 covers this one program. $39/mo covers every program, plus the workspace that walks you through each application.
How to claim
Insider tips, common pitfalls, and what successful applicants look like
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Insider TipThe 15% rate is conditioned on meeting CRA's prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements for all manual labourers on the project — failure to commit reduces your rate to 5%, costing 10 percentage points on potentially hundreds of millions in capital.
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Rejection Pitfalls 9
- Property is not eligible clean electricity property (e.g. fossil fuel generation without abatement, distribution equipment, buildings)
+8 more pitfalls
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Success Profile
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Evaluation Criteria
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Don’t lose this one to a preventable rejection
9 reasons applications get rejected, what successful claimants look like, and exactly what the program administrators check
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Application Playbook
Step-by-step process, required documents, and expenses
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7 steps
11 docs
Application Steps
1
Assess property eligibility Confirm the clean electricity property qualifies under ITA s. 127.491: technology type (wind, solar, hydro, nuclear, storage, transmission, etc.), acquisition date (after April 16, 2024 generally; December 16, 2024 for the Canada Infrastructure Bank and November 4, 2025 for Canada Growth Fund Inc. and its wholly-owned subsidiaries), available-for-use date (before December 31, 2034), construction commencement date (not before March 28, 2023), that the equipment is situated in and intended for use exclusively in Canada, and that it has not been previously used or acquired for use or lease for any purpose.
Required Documents 11
✓ T2 Corporation Income Tax Return (or T3 Trust Income Tax Return)
✓ Business number with a corporation income tax (RC) program account
Eligible Expenses 9
Ineligible Expenses 9
Claim timing
Deadline Notes
Ineligible Organizations
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Funding Stack Strategy
Compatible programs, clawback risk, and combined funding potential
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4 partners
Compatible Programs
Clean Technology ITC (30%)
Clean Technology Manufacturing ITC (30%)
SR&ED Tax Credit
Provincial clean energy incentives
Combined Funding Potential
See your total funding potential
Clawback Risk
Medium Risk
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How CEITC Compares
Side-by-side with similar programs
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| Program | Amount | Difficulty | Payment | Deadline |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clean Electricity Investment Tax Cred... | 15% | Moderate | Tax Credit Offset | December 31, 2034... |
| Strategic Response Fund (formerly Str... | Minimum $10 million contribution | Hard | Mixed (Advance + Reimb.) | Ongoing — continuous... |
| CanExport SMEs | Up to $50,000 | Moderate | Mixed (Advance + Reimb.) | Applications accepted... |
| Ocean Supercluster | Up to $5 million | Hard | Reimbursement | Call-specific — no open... |
| Ontario Innovation Tax Credit | Up to 8% tax credit | Moderate | Tax Credit Offset | Ongoing |
Related Programs
Other programs you might be eligible for
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Frequently Asked Questions
Quick answers to the questions founders most often ask about CEITC
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What is the credit rate and is it refundable?
15% of eligible capital costs, fully refundable — meaning if the credit exceeds taxes owed, the excess is paid to you in cash. The rate drops to 5% if you do not commit to prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements for manual labourers on the project.
Which technologies qualify?
Wind, solar (PV and concentrated), hydro, nuclear (including SMRs), geothermal (electricity-dominant), waste biomass electricity, stationary battery and pumped-hydro storage, and inter-provincial electricity transmission equipment. Emissions-abated natural gas (meeting a strict 65 tonnes CO2/GWh limit with CO2 storage) also qualifies.
Can municipalities and Crown corporations claim this credit?
Yes — unlike many ITCs, CEITC was explicitly expanded to include tax-exempt entities: municipalities and their wholly-owned corporations, Aboriginal government-owned corporations, designated provincial/territorial Crown corporations, pension corporations, and the Canada Infrastructure Bank.
How does CEITC interact with Clean Technology ITC?
They cannot apply to the same property. CT ITC (30%) covers broader clean technology assets; CEITC (15%) covers clean electricity generation, storage, and transmission specifically. Separate assets within the same project can qualify under each, but no double-dipping on the same dollar of capital.
Is the credit retroactive?
Yes — eligible property acquired and available for use from April 16, 2024 onward qualifies, provided construction did not begin before March 28, 2023 and the property was not previously used. Two entities have later start dates: the Canada Infrastructure Bank from December 16, 2024, and Canada Growth Fund Inc. and its wholly-owned subsidiaries from November 4, 2025. Organizations that placed qualifying property in service in 2024 or 2025 can claim on their respective T2 returns.
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Full Playbook: CEITC
7 steps · 11 docs · reviewer insights