Tax holiday for foreign experts

Please note that our offices are now located at:
380, rue Saint-Antoine ouest
Tour sud, 4^th Floor
Montréal (Québec) H2Y 3X7

This incentive is intended for foreign experts working for businesses that carry out scientific research and experimental development (SR&ED). It is designed to facilitate the recruitment of foreign experts outside Québec or Canada whose skills are related to, among other things, the coordination and carrying out of activities aimed at exploiting SR&ED results.

Eligible employers

• Employers carrying on a business in Canada that conducts SR&ED in Québec

Excluded employers

• Municipalities or Canadian public bodies performing government functions
• Corporations, commissions or associations of which at least 90% of the shares, capital or property is held by a government or Canadian municipality
• Corporations of which all of the capital stock issued belongs to a corporation, commission or association mentioned above

Excluded activities

• Activities carried out directly or indirectly for a university or an eligible public research centre within meaning of the Taxation Act

Eligible experts

Foreign experts who meet the following criteria:

• They signed an employment contract after March 9, 1999 with an eligible employer, and took up employment after that date.
• They were not resident in Canada immediately before signing their contract or taking up their employment.
• They were hired to carry out, in Québec, activities to exploit SR&ED results for their employer.
• Their duties are performed exclusively or almost exclusively, and without interruption, under a program to exploit the business's SR&ED results.
• They have solid, relevant experience in results exploitation.
• They master one of the following fields or any other activity relating to the exploitation of the business's SR&ED results:
  • Management of innovations generated by research projects
  • Commercialization and marketing
  • Financing, in particular internationally
  • Strategic alliances
• They hold a university degree in an appropriate area of expertise.

Terms of application of the tax holiday

The tax holiday applies to the wages paid to foreign experts engaged in activities to exploit SR&ED results, and covers a single period of no more than 60 consecutive months (5 consecutive years). The tax holiday applies to 100% of the experts' taxable income in the first two years, 75% in the third year, 50% in the fourth year and 25% in the fifth year.

Note: The term wages has the meaning currently associated with refundable tax credits.

How to claim the tax holiday

To find out if they are entitled to the tax holiday, experts must submit to Revenu Québec an eligibility certificate issued by the ministère du Développement économique, de l'Innovation et de l'Exportation. It is up to the employer to obtain the certificate, by applying to the Department in writing no later than the last day of February of the calendar year following the one in which the expert took up employment or signed his or her employment contract.

Guide and relevant forms

• Employer's Guide to Applying for an Eligibility Certificate
• Eligibility Certificate Application - PDF format, 7 p., 236 KB
• Annual Attestation of Eligibility - PDF format, 7 p., 176 KB

For more information

To find out more about this program, contact the Department:

Ministère du Développement économique, de l'Innovation et de l'Exportation
Direction de l'innovation et du transfert
380, rue Saint-Antoine Ouest, 4^e étage - Tour sud
Montréal (Québec) H2Y 3X7
Telephone: (514) 873-8330 or (418) 643-8757
Toll-free: 1 877 511-5889

Last update: December 19, 2007