Current Status
Status: Not Started
No concrete actions have been taken by the Carney government to increase the SR&ED claimable amount or implement related reforms since taking office.
Background
Canada has long grappled with lagging private sector investment in research and development compared to other G7 nations, a challenge that prompted successive governments to introduce incentives like the SR&ED tax credit program decades ago. During the 2025 federal election campaign, Mark Carney positioned this promise as a key plank of his economic growth strategy, emphasizing the need to bolster small and medium-sized businesses amid global competition and technological shifts. Fulfilling it would require legislative changes to raise the claimable expenditure limit from its current level—previously set at $3 million under earlier frameworks—to $6 million, alongside unspecified additional reforms to streamline or enhance the program's effectiveness. Past administrations, including Justin Trudeau's, invested in related innovation funds, such as the Strategic Innovation Fund launched in 2017, which aimed to support R&D but focused on large-scale projects rather than broad tax incentives for smaller firms. These earlier efforts provided context for Carney's pledge but left room for targeted expansions to address persistent gaps in business R&D spending.
Evidence
No qualifying actions by the Carney government appear in available records. A joint statement issued on March 2, 2026, during Prime Minister Carney's visit to India discussed bilateral relations and global priorities but made no reference to SR&ED reforms or R&D investment incentives [8]. Other federal documents, such as reports on innovation agencies and funds, detail initiatives from prior years but contain no updates attributable to the current administration.
Assessment
Prime Minister Mark Carney's government has yet to advance its campaign promise to expand the SR&ED tax incentive, leaving Canadian companies without the pledged increase in claimable amounts or accompanying reforms. With no legislative proposals tabled, funding allocations made, or policy changes enacted since Carney took office, the commitment remains untouched, even as economic pressures on small and medium-sized businesses continue to mount. This stasis risks undermining efforts to boost private sector R&D investment, a critical driver of innovation that Carney highlighted as essential for Canada's competitiveness.
The absence of progress stands out against the backdrop of ongoing global challenges, where competitors are ramping up their own innovation supports. Without tangible steps, such as introducing bills to amend the tax code or detailing those "other reforms," the promise serves more as an aspiration than a policy in motion. As of March 26, 2026, the Carney administration has not demonstrated the follow-through needed to translate election rhetoric into results, potentially leaving businesses waiting for tools to fuel growth.
Sources
- Impact report: Strategic Innovation Fund
- A Canadian innovation and investment agency – What we heard report
- Information technology, the new economy, globalization and integration - Inclusion for All: A Canadian Roadmap to Social Cohesion Insights from Structured Conversations
- Participation, citizenship and governance - Inclusion for All: A Canadian Roadmap to Social Cohesion Insights from Structured Conversations
- Parliament of Canada Act
- Canada Innovation Corporation Act
- Canadian Institutes of Health Research Act
- Joint statement by Prime Minister Carney and Prime Minister Modi | Prime Minister of Canada