Written by: Stephano Salani

Every dollar counts. This is especially true in the beginning stages of a business where opportunities are at every corner, but capital and resources are a bottleneck.

Innovation is important to society. When it comes to financially supporting innovation, the Canadian government and other organizations actually do walk the walk. The following is a list of programs that may prove useful to you in lowering the cost of entrepreneurship and the acquisition of formal intellectual property rights.

Federal Programs

IP Assist

IP Assist is a program intended to help Canadian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) develop a better understanding of intellectual property and integrate IP into their business strategy. The program connects qualifying businesses with experienced IP professionals (such as patent agents, trademark agents, and IP lawyers) who provide advice, education, and strategic guidance.

To participate, a company must generally:

• be a Canadian small-to-medium sized enterprise (“SME”) (typically fewer than 500 employees); and
• be a client of the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (“NRC IRAP”), the federal program that supports R&D and innovation in Canadian businesses.

An IRAP Industrial Technology Advisor (“ITA”) works with the company and helps determine whether participation in IP Assist would benefit the firm. The ITA also acts as an intermediary between the company and the IP professionals involved in the program. The SME is matched with an appropriate IP professional who has expertise in the company’s industry (e.g., advanced manufacturing, ICT, biomedical technology, clean tech, etc.).

The IP Assist program is organized into three sequential levels: The first stage focuses on education and basic understanding of intellectual property. The second stage involves working with an IP professional to develop a formal IP strategy for the company. The third stage is intended to involve implementing the IP strategy developed in stage 2, such as executing the recommended IP actions.

Elevate IP

ElevateIP is a federally funded program launched by the Government of Canada to support startups and business accelerators/incubators (“BAIs”) in understanding and using IP strategically.

ElevateIP offers support in three tiers:

Tier 1 – Education and Awareness: Open to all registered startups at no cost, providing foundational IP knowledge. This tier includes workshops, programs, conferences, and peer-to-peer learning opportunities to provide foundational IP knowledge.

Tier 2 – Developing Strategies: Customized coaching and advisory services to create IP strategies tailored to each startup’s needs. Tools, coaching, and advisory services are provided to help startups identify gaps and create actionable IP strategies.

Tier 3 – Implementing Strategies: Assistance in executing IP strategies, including legal and advisory support, portfolio management, and monetization planning. This tier includes support for executing IP plans, including legal, advisory, and strategic services, with funding grants up to $100,000 for eligible startups.

Eligible applicants are Canadian startups working with BAIs that are part of the program network. BAIs include organizations like Communitech, Invest Ottawa, North Forge, Innovate Calgary, and others across Canada.

Industrial Research Assistance Program (“IRAP”)

IRAP, operated by the National Research Council of Canada (“NRC”), is designed to help SMEs in Canada develop and commercialize innovative technologies. The program provides financial contributions, expert advisory services, and access to R&D networks to accelerate business growth and innovation capacity.

IRAP reimburses a percentage of eligible costs after you incur them; you have to co-fund the remainder. The reimbursement model means you need working capital to pay staff and contractors before claiming the money back from NRC.

NRC assigns each client an Industrial Technology Advisor (“ITA”) – a professional that provides technical advice, business guidance, and connections to other programs.

IRAP currently operates four streams with different mandates, eligibility criteria, and budgets:

1. Core IRAP – The original program for general technology R&D across all sectors. Covers development of innovative products, processes, and services.

2. IRAP Clean Technology – Targets clean technology innovation that demonstrate measurable environmental benefit: greenhouse gas reduction, water conservation, waste diversion, or similar outcomes.

3. Defence Industry Assist (DI Assist) – Targets technologies with both commercial and defence applications (e.g., cybersecurity, autonomous systems, advanced materials, communications, and surveillance). Projects must demonstrate dual-use potential: commercial viability alongside defence relevance.

4. AI Assist – Targets natural language processing, computer vision, predictive analytics, and other AI domain technology. Projects must involve genuine AI development or significant AI integration — simply using off-the-shelf AI tools does not qualify.

MITACS

Mitacs is a non-profit national research organization that, in partnerships with Canadian academia, private industry and government, operates research and training programs in fields related to industrial and social innovation.

Mitacs offers several funding programs (such as Accelerate, Accelerate Entrepreneur, and the Globalink Research Award) tailored to the needs of businesses and researchers. These innovation programs support scientific research and experimental development through both public and private sector funding.

Scientific Research and Experimental Development (“SR&ED”) Tax Incentives

The SR&ED tax incentives are intended to encourage businesses to conduct research and development in Canada. Corporations, individuals, trusts, and partnerships that conduct eligible work may be able to claim SR&ED tax credits for the year when filing their income tax return for the year.

There are 2 tax incentives:

• Claim a deduction against income
• Earn an investment tax credit (“ITC”)

To benefit from these incentives, you must link your eligible work to expenditures you can claim.

SR&ED tax credits can be used together with grant programs. For example, a combination of an IRAP grant for financial support and application of a SR&ED tax credit against contributions is a common combination. IRAP provides upfront reimbursement during the project while SR&ED provides a retroactive tax credit on your co-investment after the fiscal year ends. Together, they can offset over 60% of total R&D costs. Nearly every IRAP-funded company should also be filing SR&ED claims as the two programs are designed to complement each other.

Speak with an accounting professional to learn whether SR&ED tax credits apply to you.

Provincial Programs

IP Ontario (“IPON”)

IPON is a provincial program that helps Ontario-based SMEs (i.e. under 500 employees) develop, protect, and commercialize IP. Focus sectors include AI, life sciences, MedTech, advanced manufacturing, etc.

The program is structured into two tiers:

Tier 1 – Foundational Support: This includes providing IP education in the form of courses and workshops, benchmarking tools, and coaching and advisory sessions. Some funding may be accessible at this stage for early IP strategy advising.

Tier 2 – Funding and Execution: This includes access to up to $100,000 per year for eligible IP expenses (such as legal fees and filing fees) for a lifetime cap of $300,000.

IPON has a cost-sharing model whereby IPON will cover up to 80% of eligible costs while the applicant is expected to cover at least 20% of the eligible costs and taxes.

The funding can be used for IP strategy development, patent/trademark registration, IP audits and surveys, and some legal agreements such as Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) and licenses.

Provincial R&D credits 

Provincial R&D credits may be claimed in addition to SR&ED tax credits for the year when filing the income tax return for the year.

For example, Ontario’s Innovation Tax Credit provides 3.5% on eligible R&D expenditures, while Quebec’s Scientific Research and Experimental Development Credit ranges from 14% to 30% depending on company size. Alberta, British Columbia, and other provinces have their own variations. These provincial credits apply to the portion of R&D expenses not already covered by federal programs, adding another layer to your total recovery.

Speak with an accounting professional to learn whether Provincial R&D credits that may apply to you.

Looking for ways to strategize the funding and growth of the IP portfolio for your start-up? Feel free to contact us to schedule a call with an IP professional. This content is for informational use only, does not constitute legal or professional advice, and does not establish a lawyer-client relationship. To obtain such advice, please communicate with our offices directly.