The SR&ED program is a federal tax incentive program, administered by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) that encourages Canadian businesses of all sizes, and in all sectors to conduct research and development (R&D) in Canada.

It is the largest single source of federal government support for industrial R&D. The SR&ED program provides claimants cash refunds and/or tax credits for their expenditures on eligible R&D work done in Canada. Claimants can apply for SR&ED investment tax credits for expenditures such as wages, materials, machinery, equipment, some overhead, and SR&ED contracts. SR&ED is a systematic investigation, performed in Canada that seeks a technological advance in order to create or improve existing products, services or processes.

The four categories of SR&ED are:

(A) Basic Research

(B) Applied Research,

(C) Experimental Development and

(D) Support tasks.

Eligible SR&ED investments qualify for a Federal Investment Tax Credit of 20% to 35%.

Provinces add from 4.5% to 37.5%.

To be eligible there is generally an attempt to overcome a technological uncertainty in order to achieve a technological advance.