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North America Common Law

R&D heavy Canadian controlled startups, Canada

SR&ED is refundable at 35% on the first CAD 3M of qualifying R&D for Canadian Controlled Private Corporations (CCPCs). The small business deduction brings effective CIT to roughly 12% on the first CAD 500k of active income. Provincial top ups (Ontario IDMTC, BC SBVCTC) stack.

SR&ED 35% refundableSmall biz ~12%CCPC status
Start setup {placement} 4 min · no card required
Corp tax
26.5%
Fastest setup
5 business days
Tax treaties
94
Region
North America

What you'll need

  • Resident director required
  • Local registered office required
  • No substance requirement
  • Minimum capital: CAD 1
  • Administrative language: English and French
  • Legal system: Common law

Tax and treaty profile

  • Corporate tax 26.5%
  • Tax treaties 94
  • VAT rate 13%
  • Withholding on dividends 25%
Key treaty partners
United StatesUnited KingdomFranceGermanyNetherlandsSingapore

Banking and payments

  • Banking takes 2 to 4 weeks with KYC
  • Stripe supported
  • Wise supported

Considerations

If you want territorial or low tax treatment

Canada taxes worldwide income at ~26.5% combined; even with SR&ED the effective rate stays material for non R&D revenue. For territorial regimes:

~26.5% combined CITWorldwide taxationProvincial layering