(10) Eligible biopharmaceutical corporations will be entitled to an enhanced R&D wage tax 

credit of 27.5%, starting on November 21, 2012, until December 31, 2017. To qualify as an 

eligible biopharmaceutical corporation, a corporation must obtain an initial qualification 

certificate as well as an annual eligibility certificate in respect of its activities from 

Investissement Quebec.  To obtain an initial qualification certificate, a corporation must 

show that the activities that it carried on, or will carry on, in the course of its business fall 

into specific, pre-determined categories, related to human health. 

An eligible biopharmaceutical corporation that is also a small or medium enterprise 

(SME) (i.e., a Canadian-controlled corporation whose assets, on a consolidated basis, do 

not exceed $75 million), will continue to benefit from an R&D tax credit of up to 37.5%. 

However, this increased rate will be reduced on a straight-line basis to 27.5% when the 

consolidated value of the corporation’s assets is between $50 and $75 million.

(11)  In New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador and the Yukon, eligible 

expenditures are those that are considered qualified expenditures for federal purposes, 

as defined under the federal Income Tax Act. The credit is considered to be government 

assistance and reduces federal expenditures for both the R&D deduction and ITCs.

(12) There are no provincial R&D tax incentives in Prince Edward Island, North West Territories 

and Nunavut.

Provincial Research and Development Tax Incentives  /  89

Current as of May 3, 2013

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