OIDMTC: Ontario Interactive Digital Media Tax Credit Guide
The OIDMTC is a refundable tax credit of 40% of your eligible Ontario labour if you own the product, or 35% for fee-for-service work. There is no overall cap on the credit. Answer three questions below for an honest verdict on whether you qualify and a rough estimate of what you could claim, then see the rules, the certificate process, and the mistakes that shrink Ontario claims.
Check if you qualify →Do You Qualify, and What Could You Claim?
Three questions, an honest verdict, and a rough estimate on your Ontario labour. Nothing you enter here is saved or sent anywhere.
Salaries and wages for Ontario-resident staff, plus arm's-length Ontario contractors, on the product. Whole dollars per year.
Answer the questions above to see your OIDMTC verdict.
Updated July 16, 2026. Every rate on this page is verified against the GrantCompass catalog record for the OIDMTC (program #392, Ontario Creates and CRA).
The two rates and the math
The OIDMTC pays 40% of eligible Ontario labour when you own the product and 35% for fee-for-service work, with no overall cap on the credit itself.
The Ontario Interactive Digital Media Tax Credit (OIDMTC) is a fully refundable credit on your eligible Ontario labour. If your company develops and sells or licenses its own interactive digital media products, you claim 40%. If you build products under fee-for-service contracts, the rate is 35%. There is no overall cap on the credit itself, which makes it one of Canada's most valuable gaming and digital media incentives; only marketing and distribution costs are limited, at $100,000 per product. See the full OIDMTC program record for the complete eligibility list.
Refundable means cash back. If your OIDMTC credit is larger than the Ontario tax your corporation owes, the CRA pays you the difference as a refund. A studio with $500,000 of eligible Ontario labour on its own game claims $200,000 at 40%; the same labour under a fee-for-service contract claims $175,000 at 35%. The gap is why owning your IP matters: on identical payroll, the own-product track is worth $25,000 more per $500,000 of labour.
Own your IP and you claim 40%; do the same work for hire and it drops to 35%. Neither track has an overall ceiling, so the credit scales directly with your eligible Ontario payroll.
Source: GrantCompass catalog record #392 (Ontario Interactive Digital Media Tax Credit), verified against Ontario Creates, last checked June 26, 2026.
Does the OIDMTC have a maximum credit amount?
No. There is no overall cap on the OIDMTC, and no per-project or annual limit on the eligible labour that drives it. The credit scales directly with your eligible Ontario labour expenditures, which is why large studios routinely claim millions of dollars a year. The one exception is marketing and distribution: those expenditures are eligible only up to $100,000 per non-specified product, and only when they are incurred in the window from 24 months before completion through 12 months after. Everything else, salaries and wages for Ontario-resident staff and arm's-length Ontario contractors on the product, counts toward the labour base with no ceiling. That uncapped structure is the single feature that sets the OIDMTC apart from most other Canadian media credits.
Worked example: an $800,000 payroll studio
Take an Ontario game studio with $800,000 of eligible Ontario labour on a title it owns. At the 40% own-product rate the OIDMTC is $320,000, refundable in cash even if the studio owes no Ontario tax. If that same studio also does $200,000 of fee-for-service work for a publisher, that labour is claimed separately at 35%, worth another $70,000. Marketing and distribution on the owned title add up to $100,000 of eligible cost, worth up to $40,000 more at 40%. None of these amounts is subject to an overall cap, so the studio's total OIDMTC scales with how much qualifying Ontario labour it runs.
Note the administration fee and timing: Ontario Creates charges 0.15% of eligible expenditures to process the certificate, with a minimum of $1,000 and a maximum of $10,000, and a late filing fee of $100 applies if you apply more than 18 months after your tax year-end.
What qualifies: product and labour
Two things decide eligibility: the product must be genuinely interactive digital media, and the labour must be Ontario-based work on that product.
A qualifying product is an interactive digital media product that presents information in at least two of text, sound, or images, and requires user input that materially affects the outcome. Video games, educational software, e-learning, and interactive informational products qualify; linear video, most websites, business SaaS, and games of pure chance do not. Eligible labour is salaries and wages for Ontario-resident employees at your Ontario establishment, plus remuneration to arm's-length Ontario-resident contractors for work performed in Ontario.
The interactivity test is where most rejected claims fail. CRA and Ontario Creates want to see that a user's input changes what happens next, the way it does in a game or an adaptive learning module. A video that plays start to finish, a static reference site, or a corporate training tool that only presents content does not clear the bar. Document the interactivity plainly in your application, with a working build that a reviewer can operate.
If a user's choices materially change the experience, you likely have an eligible product. If the content simply plays or displays, expect a rejection on the interactivity test, regardless of how technically hard it was to build.
Source: GrantCompass catalog record #392, evaluation-criteria summary and eligible-expenses list (Ontario Creates).
What is the 80/25 rule?
For standard claims, the OIDMTC applies an 80/25 rule to the labour base: at least 80% of the eligible labour must be paid to Ontario-based workers, and at least 25% of that must go to the corporation's own employees rather than contractors. The rule exists to keep the credit anchored to real Ontario employment rather than pure outsourcing. It is why studios track labour by residency and by employee-versus-contractor status from day one, not at claim time. Products developed by a digital game corporation follow a specified track at the 35% rate rather than the 40% own-product rate. If your labour mix is heavy on non-Ontario or contractor work, model the 80/25 split early, because falling short can reduce or disqualify the claim on labour you assumed was eligible.
Can foreign-owned studios claim the OIDMTC?
Yes. The OIDMTC is open to a Canadian corporation that is either Canadian-controlled or foreign-owned, as long as it has a permanent establishment in Ontario and pays eligible Ontario labour. This is a common point of confusion, because some other Ontario screen credits require Canadian control. For the OIDMTC, what matters is that the company is incorporated, has an Ontario establishment, and develops a qualifying interactive product with Ontario labour. Foreign-owned studios that stand up an Ontario subsidiary and hire Ontario developers claim the credit on the same footing as a domestic studio. Labour-sponsored venture capital corporations and tax-exempt entities are excluded, and non-profits and government bodies do not qualify.
Source: GrantCompass catalog record #392, eligibility notes (foreign-owned Canadian-incorporated corporations confirmed eligible, source-verified July 13, 2026).
How to claim: certificate and CRA
You certify the product with Ontario Creates first, then claim the credit on your T2 corporate return; there is no competitive application and no deadline other than the 18-month filing window.
The OIDMTC is entitlement-based: every qualifying company receives it, with no competition. You apply to Ontario Creates for a Certificate of Eligibility, pay a small administration fee, then file Schedule T2SCH560 with your T2 return and attach the certificate. Apply within 18 months of the tax year-end in which product development was completed. Ontario Creates certification generally takes a few weeks to a few months, and CRA then processes the refund roughly 8 to 20 weeks after you file.
- Gather documentation. Payroll records, top-5 T4s, contractor agreements per product, and chain-of-title evidence such as trademark, copyright, domain registration, and licensing agreements.
- Apply to Ontario Creates for a Certificate of Eligibility. File through the Ontario Creates portal within 18 months after the tax year-end in which product development was completed. A $100 late fee applies past that window.
- Pay the administration fee. 0.15% of eligible expenditures, minimum $1,000 and maximum $10,000 per application.
- Receive your Certificate of Eligibility. Ontario Creates reviews the product against the interactive digital media definition and confirms the eligible expenditures and the applicable rate.
- Complete Schedule T2SCH560 with your T2 return. Report the eligible expenditures and the credit on the schedule filed with your T2 Corporation Income Tax Return.
- Attach the certificate and file. Attach the OIDMTC certificate via the CRA T2 attach-a-doc feature or My Business Account. CRA processes the claim and issues the refund, net of any Ontario taxes owing.
The 18-month filing window is the one hard deadline. Apply for the Ontario Creates certificate early in development rather than after launch, because the certificate has to exist before you can claim.
Source: GrantCompass catalog record #392, application steps and cash-flow timing (Ontario Creates and CRA).
OIDMTC vs SR&ED vs OCASE
The OIDMTC, SR&ED, and OCASE reward different work, and an Ontario studio can often claim more than one, as long as each dollar of labour is claimed only once.
Interactive studios frequently qualify for more than one refundable credit at the same time. The OIDMTC rewards interactive-media development, SR&ED rewards genuine R&D with technological uncertainty, and OCASE rewards computer animation and special-effects labour. The rule that ties them together is simple: the same labour dollar cannot be claimed under two credits, but different labour on the same project can go to different programs.
| Credit | What it rewards | Rate | Cap |
|---|---|---|---|
| OIDMTC | Interactive digital media (games, e-learning, educational software) | 40% own IP, 35% fee-for-service, on Ontario labour | No overall cap; marketing and distribution capped at $100,000 per product |
| SR&ED | R&D that resolves a technological uncertainty through systematic investigation | 35% refundable for CCPCs on the first $6M; 15% basic for others | Enhanced rate applies to the first $6M of qualified expenditure per year |
| OCASE | Computer animation and special-effects labour in Ontario | 18% of eligible Ontario labour | No cap on the eligible labour amount |
Sources: GrantCompass catalog records #392 (OIDMTC), #4 (SR&ED), and #468 (OCASE). SR&ED enhanced-rate limit raised to $6M by Budget 2025.
Can I claim OIDMTC and SR&ED together?
Yes, on different labour. The two credits run on the same company against different expenditures, never against the same dollar. A studio claims the OIDMTC on the Ontario labour that builds the interactive product, and claims SR&ED on separate R&D labour where the work involved genuine technological uncertainty and systematic investigation. Any labour already claimed under SR&ED is ineligible for the OIDMTC, and vice versa, so careful expense allocation is what unlocks both without triggering a clawback. Government assistance you receive also grinds the OIDMTC base, so disclose all funding. Done well, an interactive studio with a real R&D component can layer the OIDMTC over its product labour and SR&ED over its research labour and collect both refunds in the same year.
OIDMTC plus SR&ED is one of the strongest stacks available to an Ontario studio, but only if you split the labour cleanly. Claim each dollar once, allocate before you file, and disclose every source of assistance.
See what Ontario funding your studio qualifies for, beyond the OIDMTC
The OIDMTC is one credit. Answer a few quick questions and watch the map narrow to the Ontario grants, credits, and funds your studio can actually get, free, no account.
The costliest mistakes
Most lost OIDMTC money comes from a handful of avoidable errors: failing the interactivity test, double-claiming labour, and missing the 18-month window.
- Failing the interactivity test. The single biggest rejection reason. Products must require user input that materially affects the outcome. Linear video, static websites, and passive content do not qualify no matter how polished.
- Double-claiming labour with SR&ED. Labour already claimed under SR&ED is ineligible for the OIDMTC. Allocate expenses cleanly so each dollar is claimed once, or risk a reassessment.
- Missing the 18-month deadline. Apply to Ontario Creates within 18 months of your tax year-end. Late applications carry a $100 fee and can be refused.
- Not disclosing government assistance. Grants and subsidies grind the credit base. Undisclosed assistance found on audit is a common source of clawback.
- Claiming ineligible costs. Post-completion maintenance and bug fixes, overhead not tied to development, and marketing beyond the $100,000 per-product cap are all excluded.
- Certifying after launch. Apply early in development. The certificate has to exist before you claim, and starting late slows the whole timeline.
Source: GrantCompass catalog record #392, rejection reasons and ineligible-expenses list (Ontario Creates and CRA).
Frequently asked questions
Can I claim OIDMTC on fee-for-service work?
What's the minimum payroll needed to qualify?
How long does Ontario Creates certification take?
Can I stack OIDMTC with SR&ED?
Why do applications get rejected for interactivity?
Sources
- Ontario Creates, OIDMTC tax incentive overview, the administering body for product certification.
- Ontario Creates application portal, where the Certificate of Eligibility is requested.
- GrantCompass OIDMTC program record (#392), verified June 26, 2026, the source for the rates, cap, and process on this page.
- Canada Revenue Agency, Schedule T2SCH560 and the T2 Corporation Income Tax Return, for filing the certified credit.
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