If your company is a CCPC (Canadian Controlled Private Corporation) then your SR&ED tax credit from CRA is 35% up to the first $2 million of qualified expenditures for SR&ED carried out in Canada, and 20% on any excess amount. The Ontario Government also kicks in 10%, so that your total credit can be almost half of the costs claimed. If, also, you qualify based on the business limit , then the credit is refundable, meaning you will receive a cheque for the full credit, regardless of how much your tax is for the fiscal year in question. CRA is currently committing to turning around a claim of this nature in 120 days. If you are not a CCPC, then your SR&ED tax credit is 20% of the claimed cost. Although this is less than for CCPC's, claims for larger companies are often quite substantial, so the resulting credit can be significant. In this case, the credit is non-refundable, and can be used to offset tax owing. Any unused SR&ED tax credit can be carried forward indefinitely. If your SR&ED claim is non-refundable (i.e. you are not a CCPC or your taxable income is too high) then CRA is committed to completing such claims in 365 days. You can submit an SR&ED claim, for a particular fiscal year, when you file your taxes for that year, or later if you wish. You need to be aware that the SR&ED claim must be filed no later than 18 months after the fiscal year end. (To be safe, CRA advises you to submit it within 16 months. This gives you some leeway to submit missing information, should it be necessary. CRA will not accept any documentation after this 18 month period has expired.)