How it works

If you are a newly established corporation in certain sectors, you could be eligible for a refund of the corporate income tax and corporate minimum tax your business paid in its first 10 taxation years.

Who is eligible

 You need to operate in:

  • advanced health
  • bioeconomy (including clean energy technologies)
  • telecommunications, computer or digital technologies production

You also:

  • must be incorporated between March 25, 2008 and March 24, 2012
  • cannot be formed by way of an amalgamation or merger
  • must be commercializing intellectual property developed at a Canadian university or college

How to apply

The application process involves three parts:

  1. check to see if the company, intellectual property or university/college is eligible.
  2. apply for a Certificate of Eligibility (required for each taxation year you seek a refund)
  3. submit the Certificate of Eligibility and a tax refund application to the Ministry of Finance

Part 1: Preliminary non-binding determination

The first step is to see if your company is eligible. To do this, you will apply for what’s called a preliminary non-binding determination. This process will let you know if:

  • your business is eligible
  • your intellectual property is eligible
  • the institute where you developed the intellectual property is eligible

You can apply for a preliminary non-binding determination at any time during your company’s first taxation year.

Part 2: Certificate of Eligibility

If your company meets all the criteria, you can apply for a Certificate of Eligibility. This certificate verifies that your company has carried out eligible commercialization activities in the year for which you seek a tax refund.

You need to apply to the Ministry of Research and Innovation for the certificate.

On this application, you need to describe:

  • the intellectual property and provide information on patents
  • the business and the sector it operates in
  • the university or college where the work was/is being done

Part 3: Submit application for a refund

If your commercialization business qualifies, you will get a certificate. You need submit this certificate and a tax refund application to the Ministry of Finance to get a refund.

Form: Application for a Refund under the Ontario Tax Exemption for Commercialization

Application deadline

You can apply any time.

Application guides and forms

Each application package is a compressed .zip file containing a program guidelines and application instructions (.doc). Download the application package and unzip the contents to get started.

Application Package (ZIP)

Selection timelines

The Ministry of Research and Innovation is committed to making timely decisions on all full applications submitted.