SR&ED tax credit rates by province: your combined federal + provincial rate

Quebec: 65% combined, the highest rate in Canada

In Quebec, a CCPC's combined SR&ED rate is 65% — 35% federal plus a 30% provincial CRIC — and both halves are refundable.

For taxation years beginning after 25 March 2025, Quebec's legacy R&D credit was replaced by the CRIC (tax credit for research, innovation and pre-commercialization). It pays 30% on qualified expenditures above an exclusion threshold, up to $1 million, and 20% above that. The threshold is the greater of $50,000 or the sum of the basic personal amount for each employee, so it rises with headcount — a larger team pushes the first dollars of your claim out of the credit entirely.

Alberta: 55% in your first R&D year, 43% once your spending levels off

In Alberta, a corporation's combined rate is 55% on R&D spending above its two-year average and 43% on spending at or below it — 35% federal plus the Innovation Employment Grant at 20% or 8%.

Alberta is the one jurisdiction whose rate depends on whether your R&D is growing. The IEG pays 8% on spending up to your average of the previous two years and 20% on everything above it. A company doing R&D for the first time has a base of zero, so its entire first-year spend earns the 20% rate. The IEG is delivered as a payment through the corporate tax system rather than as a classic refundable credit, and it phases out between $10 million and $50 million of taxable capital.

One number to keep separate: the IEG covers up to $4 million of annual R&D spending. That $4 million is an Alberta cap and has nothing to do with the federal SR&ED expenditure limit, which Budget 2025 set at $6 million. There has never been a $4 million federal SR&ED limit.

Newfoundland and Labrador: 50% combined, fully refundable

In Newfoundland and Labrador, a CCPC's combined refundable SR&ED rate is 50% — 35% federal plus 15% provincial.

The provincial credit is 15% of eligible expenditures for R&D carried out in the province, and the CRA describes it as “fully refundable, but must first be applied against total taxes payable.” It is claimed on Schedule 301, filed no later than 12 months after the corporation's filing due date — a tighter window than the federal 18 months, and the reason some Newfoundland claimants recover the federal half and forfeit the provincial one.

Nova Scotia: 50% combined, fully refundable

In Nova Scotia, a CCPC's combined refundable SR&ED rate is 50% — 35% federal plus 15% provincial.

The Nova Scotia credit is 15% of eligible SR&ED expenditures incurred in the province and is fully refundable: any amount exceeding Nova Scotia tax otherwise payable is returned in cash. It is claimed on Schedule 340 of the Nova Scotia T2 return, with no separate application and no deadline of its own beyond the corporate filing.

New Brunswick: 50% combined, fully refundable

In New Brunswick, a CCPC's combined refundable SR&ED rate is 50% — 35% federal plus 15% provincial.

New Brunswick pays a fully refundable 15% credit on eligible SR&ED expenditures for corporations with a permanent establishment in the province. It is claimed on Schedule 360 with the annual corporate return; there is no separate application and no fixed deadline beyond the return itself.

Yukon: 50% combined, and 55% on work paid to Yukon University

In Yukon, a CCPC's combined refundable SR&ED rate is 50% — 35% federal plus 15% territorial — rising to 55% on eligible amounts paid to Yukon University.

Yukon is the only territory with an R&D tax credit, which is why blanket statements that “no territory offers one” are wrong. The CRA sets the credit at “15% of eligible expenditures incurred in the tax year” plus “5% of eligible expenditures included above paid or payable to Yukon University,” and it is fully refundable. File Schedule 442 within 18 months of the end of the tax year.

Manitoba: 50% headline, but only 37% reaches you in cash on in-house R&D

In Manitoba, a CCPC's combined headline SR&ED rate is 50% — 35% federal plus 15% provincial — but on in-house R&D only half the provincial credit is refundable, so the cash rate is 37.25%.

This is the jurisdiction where the headline rate misleads most. The CRA states the split plainly: the credit “is fully refundable” for R&D carried out under an eligible contract with a qualifying research institute, and “when eligible research and development is not undertaken under an eligible contract with an institute, 50% of the tax credit amount is refundable, the rest is non-refundable.” The non-refundable half is not lost — it carries back three years and forward twenty — but it is only worth something once you owe Manitoba tax.

British Columbia: 45% combined, and the credit is now permanent

In British Columbia, a CCPC's combined refundable SR&ED rate is 45% — 35% federal plus 10% provincial. The cash figure after the federal base reduction is 41.5%.

B.C. Budget 2026 made the provincial SR&ED credit permanent, having previously scheduled it to expire, and extended the refundable credit to eligible Canadian public corporations as well as CCPCs. The refundable credit is 10% of the lesser of your B.C. qualified expenditure or the expenditure limit, which rose to $6 million for tax years beginning on or after 16 December 2024. Expenditures above that earn a 10% non-refundable credit instead, available to all qualifying corporations. Claim on form T666 within 18 months of year-end.

Saskatchewan: 45% combined on the first $2 million

In Saskatchewan, a CCPC's combined refundable SR&ED rate is 45% — 35% federal plus 10% provincial — on the first $2 million of annual qualifying expenditures.

Saskatchewan doubled its refundable threshold from $1 million to $2 million effective 16 December 2024, which raised the maximum refundable provincial credit to $200,000. Expenditures above the threshold earn a 10% non-refundable credit, and total credits are capped at $1 million per corporation per year. Filed on Schedule 403 with the Saskatchewan corporate return.

Ontario: 43% refundable, plus a non-refundable 3.5% on top

In Ontario, a CCPC's combined refundable SR&ED rate is 43% — 35% federal plus the 8% Ontario Innovation Tax Credit — with a further 3.5% available as the non-refundable Ontario Research and Development Tax Credit.

Ontario runs two credits, and the difference between them matters more than the rates suggest. The OITC is refundable at 8%, capped at a $3 million annual expenditure limit, and it shrinks: the limit starts falling once prior-year taxable income exceeds $500,000 and reaches nil at $800,000, and falls again on taxable capital between $25 million and $50 million. The ORDTC is 3.5% and non-refundable, so it only helps a corporation that already owes Ontario tax. Claiming the OITC also reduces the base the ORDTC is calculated on.

Prince Edward Island, Northwest Territories and Nunavut: 35%, the federal rate only

In Prince Edward Island, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, a CCPC's SR&ED rate is 35% — the federal credit alone. None of the three offers a provincial or territorial R&D top-up.

This is a stated fact, not an inference from missing data. The CRA's page for each jurisdiction lists the credits it offers, and R&D is not among them: Prince Edward Island offers a corporate investment tax credit and a foreign tax credit; the Northwest Territories and Nunavut each offer a foreign tax credit and a political contribution tax credit. The CRA's SR&ED policy names the ten jurisdictions that do run an R&D credit, and these three are not on the list.

The practical consequence is simple. Your federal claim is the whole claim, so the federal filing carries all the weight — and there is no provincial schedule to forget.