The SR&ED improvements Canada's innovation community has been anticipating since Budget 2025 are now officially in effect.
Bill C-15, the Budget Implementation Act, 2025, No. 1, received Royal Assent on March 26, 2026. For the thousands of Canadian companies that rely on SR&ED to fuel their R&D programs, that date marks a meaningful shift in both the size of credits available, and how Ottawa is positioning innovation investment as a pillar of economic resilience.
What Changed for SR&ED
When Budget 2025 first dropped in November, we covered the proposed SR&ED enhancements in depth, including our SR&ED webinar series and ongoing content tracking these developments. The core improvements are now law:
- Higher eligible expenditure limits — expanded thresholds that allow more companies to claim larger credits on qualifying work
- Capital expenditure inclusion — machinery, equipment, and other capital costs are now eligible, restoring and broadening a category that had been stripped from the program in earlier reforms
- Public company expansion — larger, publicly traded Canadian companies can now access enhanced SR&ED incentives that were previously restricted to CCPCs
- Simplified administration and faster processing — the government has committed to cutting in half the processing period for SR&ED claims, a long-standing pain point for companies that have had to wait 12–18 months to see capital returned
Taken together, these 2026 SR&ED Enhancements represent the most significant update to the program in over a decade.
More Than SR&ED: A Broader Innovation Agenda
The SR&ED improvements don't stand alone. Bill C-15 arrives as part of a broader package of measures aimed at building what the government describes as a stronger, more resilient Canadian economy, with innovation investment at the centre.
The legislation also delivers the Clean Electricity Investment Tax Credit, accelerating investments in clean technology infrastructure, as well as enhanced Clean Economy ITCs to support clean technology manufacturing and carbon capture.
Perhaps most relevant for capital-intensive innovators: Bill C-15 introduces a Productivity Super-Deduction, which is a set of enhanced tax incentives covering all new capital investment that allows businesses to write off a larger share of those costs immediately. For companies in manufacturing, cleantech, or hardware-intensive R&D, this pairs directly with expanded SR&ED capital eligibility in a meaningful way.
The government is also advancing the Canada Global Impact+ Research Talent Initiative to recruit world-leading researchers in critical fields that will deliver direct economic, societal, and health benefits for Canadians. Combined with SR&ED, this signals a sustained federal commitment to keeping research talent and investment anchored in Canada.
The Economic Context
The timing of this legislation matters. The global landscape is rapidly changing, leaving economies, businesses, and workers under uncertainty. Ottawa's response has been to lean into domestic investment capacity, and SR&ED is one of the clearest levers it has to keep Canadian companies investing in R&D rather than pulling back.
As Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne noted, the goal is building "an economy that is strong and resilient to global shocks." With these investments designed to drive economic growth and modernize Canada's tax framework for the long term.
Now Is the Time to Claim What You're Owed
The enhancements are law. The capital expenditure door is open. And for companies that haven't yet maximized their SR&ED claim (or haven't fully explored how the expanded eligibility criteria affect their qualifying activities) there's real money at stake.
Boast has helped more than 2,000 companies across Canada and the United States access over $900M in R&D tax credits since 2011. Our team has been tracking the 2026 SR&ED Enhancements from the moment Budget 2025 dropped, and we're ready to help you understand exactly what's changed and what it means for your next claim.
