Innovation Employment Grant

Overview of the Innovation Employment Grant program:

The Innovation Employment Grant encourages economic growth by supporting small and medium-sized businesses that invest in research and development (R&D) with a grant worth up to 20% of qualifying expenditures. The program promotes investment and diversification by rewarding all R&D spending in Alberta, regardless of the industry, and complementing the Job Creation Tax Cut by focusing on small and medium-sized firms in the earlier stages of operation, when they might not yet be profitable. Together, the Innovation Employment Grant and the Job Creation Tax Cut support companies of all sizes and at all stages of their business cycles.

Benefits of the Innovation Employment Grant program:

• The grant provides qualified corporations with:
• An 8% payment for eligible R&D spending carried out in Alberta, up to the corporations base level of spending.
• An enhanced 20% payment for eligible R&D spending that exceeds the corporations base spending level.
• A firms base level of spending is determined by calculating the corporations average qualifying R&D spending over the previous 2 years.
• The grant provides benefits on up to $4 million in annual R&D spending.

Eligibility criteria of the Innovation Employment Grant program:

• Available to corporations that undertake R&D in Alberta.
• The grant will phase out incrementally for firms with between $10 million and $50 million in taxable capital to ensure the support targets small and medium-sized companies.
• Firms with $50 million or more in taxable capital are not eligible for the grant.
• Eligible expenditures must have been incurred in Alberta after December 31, 2020 and match those that qualify for the federal Scientific Research and Experimental Development Tax Incentive Program.