SR&ED for cleantech
Cleantech tends to be SR&ED-rich: efficiency gains, new materials and novel processes routinely involve outcomes the existing knowledge base can't predict. The work is usually eligible; capturing the evidence and drawing the line against routine engineering is the real task.
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Where the eligible work usually is
- Improving conversion efficiency, energy density or emissions past what the known approaches could achieve.
- Developing or applying a novel material whose behaviour under your conditions was uncertain.
- Designing a process or system where scale-up, integration or durability introduced genuine unknowns.
- Systematic testing whose results advanced the underlying technology, including the failures.
What usually doesn't qualify
Deploying established technology, engineering to a known spec, standard system integration, and routine performance testing generally aren't SR&ED — even in a genuinely green product. The eligible work is the experimental development that resolves a technological uncertainty, not the build-out around it.
Evidence from the test bench
Cleantech generates strong records: prototype and pilot test data, performance measurements, materials characterization, and design iterations. SREDlog organizes them against the project so each claimed cost ties back to the test that supports it.
Frequently asked questions
No. Environmental benefit doesn't determine eligibility; technological uncertainty does. The eligible portion is the experimental work where the outcome genuinely couldn't be known in advance.
Parts of it might, if the scale-up or integration required resolving real technological unknowns. Routine construction and commissioning don't.
Test data, performance measurements, materials characterization and design iterations are strong records. See documentation requirements.
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This guide is general information, not tax advice. SR&ED rules, rates and limits change, so confirm the current figures with the CRA or your advisor before you file.