SR&ED

SR&ED, or the Scientific Research and Experimental Development program, is a federal tax incentive program meant to encourage Canadian businesses to conduct research and experimental development (R&D) that will lead to new, improved, or technologically advanced products or processes. Johnson sends out surveys, followed up by interviews, in order to build ICOM's claim.

SR&ED Submissions

As of Nov 2019, ICOM started collecting SR&ED content via Google Form: Click here

Uncertainty: Technical obstacle addressed

Why was the work necessary? Was there a software/process limitation? Are clients requesting something new or different?

Activity: Goal of work

Before performing the work, did you or your team have expectations for the work?

Activity: Technical work performed

Explain the details of the technical work you or co-workers undertook. Please highlight tools and techniques used. Jargon is good. We LOVE numbers! Please share any measurements you encountered, eg: Frames per second, load time, render time

Advancement: Result of your work

What was the outcome of your work? Success? Failure? Work in progress? We LOVE numbers! Please share any measurements you encountered, eg: Frames per second, load time, render time

SR&ED Submission Case Study

Prototyping of a Web Interactive 3D model

Uncertainty: Why was this work undertaken?

In September 2015, Google has released Chrome 45 with NPAPI plugin support removed which prevented users from running the Unity Web Player.

Activity: Goal of work

The team's goal was to allow a PC with average specifications to render a 3D model in real-time with at least 10 frames-per-second.

Activity: What technical work was performed?

The 3D team researched different methods for delivering 3D models to clients via the web. The team experimented with these frameworks:

WebGL framework Three.js/Javascript
- Render took twice as long as expected
- Models larger that 10,000 polygons unsupported
WebGL framework Unity/C#
- Fatal errors encountered for models in FBX format
WebGL framework Sketchfab/Javascript
- Viable but re-engineering required to reach goal of 10 frames-per-second

Advancement: What was the result?

ICOM developed a method of delivering 3D models via a web-browser using SketchFab. Baseline render performance improved from 206 seconds to 175 seconds on the R&D PC by moving the model rendering to a hosted service.

Program Eligibility

To be considered eligible, ICOM projects should:

Attempt to develop or improve a material, device, product or process
Attempt to secure new scientific knowledge through experimentation or analysis
Overcome technological uncertainty

Types of project work eligible:

Experimental development
Applied research
Basic research
Direct support for development or research that is commensurate with it

Expenses eligible:

Labour
Material
Contracting fees
Labour related costs, such as travel

Eligible material costs:

Capital expenses
Rental expenses
Other tangible equipment costs

NOT eligible:

Market research on existing product
Sales promotion
Style changes
Quality control
Research in Social sciences / humanities
Any work past prototype

Project Management/Creative Direction

CRA likes to see "hands on" management, eg:
- Participate in creative of the project
- Participate in execution of the project

Building the claim

The process for building the SR&ED claim roughly follows these steps:

Assessment
- Project teams and SR&ED SME determine which projects are eligible
- SR&ED Project Eligibility Assessment Questionnaire
Analysis
- SR&ED SME begins a Project cost analysis on eligible projects
- Project interviews
- Project team & SR&ED SME development project descriptions of eligible projects
Submission
- SR&ED SME submits completed Project cost analysis documents to ICOM's 3rd party Tax Analyst