SR&ED is a government program that refunds companies their expenditures on research and development. (Some information on SR&ED)

How can you benefit from SR&ED if you are not involved in R&D?

If you are an accountant, a business management consultant, or do something else that brings you in touch with many businesses, you may want to let your clients know about SR&ED. Some of your clients may be involved in research and development (technical, software and hardware development, printing, machinery engineering and any other technology-related activity may qualify). If you let them know about the program, they might get a very significant refund. We pay commission if you send someone to us and their claim is successful.

I am going to hold an information session on SR&ED sometime soon, targeting accountants and management consultants. Are you interested? If you know any other accountants or management consultants, please let them know about the session, too. The session will be held sometime in February and will be about 1 hour long. (If you are interested, leave a comment here or send me your contact information to tanias.info AT gmail.com.)

There were some recent changes in SR&ED procedure. If you are interested in SR&ED or involved in SR&ED claims in any way, you should attend.
Seminar description and link for registration

SR&ED is a federal tax incentive program that refunds Canadian businesses their research and development (R&D) expenditures. Learn more about SR&ED

The new immigration occupation list is the stupidest thing I ever heard of. The immigration authorities manage to make the whole thing more and more idiotic every time they change the rules (apparently, human idiocy has no limits).

Now, if you don’t have Canadian experience (haven’t worked or studied in Canada), you only stand a chance to immigrate if you belong to the new occupations list.
Let’s look at each position. Whom does our government want to bring into the country?

Financial Managers – I am not even going to comment THAT.

Financial Auditors and Accountants Yes, with vast experience of working under other countries’ rules, regulations and accounting standards. These people don’t stand a chance of being employed in Canada unless they are willing to start from the ground up again (i.e. from being accounting clerks) and obtain all certification, which may take years.

General Practitioners and Family Physicians (and various other medical personnel) Am I walking the same ground that the government people do? Have they ever heard that it is impossible for a doctor with foreign diploma to work in Canada in the professional quality? Yes, I know that there is a government program for re-certifying foreign doctors, a really huge and ambitious project with throughput of about 40 people a year. (Guess how many doctors will come annually under the new rules.) So, these people will have to join the army of pizza deliverers unless the Government changes the licensing rules which I doubt.

All flavours of managers Again the practicality of the government people is astonishing. How big is a chance that someone who just came into the country will be hired in a managerial role? I’ll tell you. Nil. (Unless we talk about a pop-and-mom shop or, maybe, a very small software development company.)

Various kinds of engineers Last time I heard, you could not work as an engineer without Canadian certification and experience. So these people, too, will be forced to take a survival job and undergo long and expensive process of certification.

Chefs and cooks Have you personally suffered from the shortage of chefs and cooks in Canada? Now, doctors and nurses may be a different story, but no one is going to do anything about it (see above).

This is a real circus. I cannot believe my tax money is wasted on the bunch of harebrained [censored] who came up with this ridiculous list. Now take me, I came to Canada as an independent immigrant, I have been gainfully employed most of the time since then (until I switched to self-employment), I have paid taxes (a lot of them), and all in all, because of my presence in the country, the Canadian economy won and I won and everybody won. Under the new rules, I and a million of other people wouldn’t have stood a chance. Now, instead of that, we are going to get more deceived and frustrated doctors and managers who will have to work as pizza deliverers or go on welfare. Who is going to win? Not they, not I, not you.

For a refreshed and updated list please visit my business website:
A fresher list of government incentives

The resources are mostly for research-and-development based Canadian small businesses (some are applicable to other types of businesses as well).

SR&ED – government refund for companies doing research and development
http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/txcrdt/sred-rsde/menu-eng.html

OITC (Ontario Innovation Tax Credit) – rider to federal SR&ED
http://www.rev.gov.on.ca/english/forms/ct/pdf/0329f.pdf

Federal and Provincial Government Assistance Programs (by Alphabetical Order, Department/Agency and Research Area)
https://strategis.ic.gc.ca/epic/site/rti-rti.nsf/en/h_te02568e.html

Federal research programs and assistance
http://www.ic.gc.ca/epic/site/ic1.nsf/en/h_00162e.html

Export Market Access (EMA)is a cost-sharing grant designed to help small to medium sized organizations take advantage of opportunities in foreign markets beyond the US.

Federal Grants, Subsidies and Contributions Info-Guide with a special focus on entrepreneurs and start-ups
http://www.canadabusiness.ca/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=CBSC_ON/display&c=GuideInfoGuide&cid=1184729523117&lang=en

http://www.trra.ca/torontoregion/ (click on IncentivesDirectory button) – all levels of government, a good tool for search by program parameters (source of funding, sector etc.)

MINISTRY OF RESEARCH AND INNOVATION (Ontario)
http://www.mri.gov.on.ca/english/programs/mri.asp

Ontario Business Program Guide
http://www.ontario.ca/businessprograms

http://www.2ontario.com/software/government_programs.asp – list of programs with summary information, so you don’t have to check each link separately

City of Toronto incentive programs (plus a limited summary of others)
http://www.toronto.ca/invest-in-toronto/incentives-imit.htm

Ontario New Technology Tax incentive (ONTTI)
http://www.rev.gov.on.ca/english/credit/ONTTI/

Ontario Business Research Institute Tax Credit (OBRITC)
http://www.rev.gov.on.ca/english/notices/ct/6024.html

Apprenticeship training tax credit
http://www.rev.gov.on.ca/english/credit/attc/index.html

Other Ontario tax incentives
http://www.rev.gov.on.ca/english/credit/index.html

Variety of tax incentives for the creative industries such as new media, film and television production, book publishing and sound recording – http://www.rev.gov.on.ca/english/credit/

(This most helpful resource list is based on the one prepared by Michael Williams from TRRA and distributed during Toronto Tech Week 2008.)