5 stackable grants you should be applying for with SR&ED

Many businesses don’t realize how much funding opportunity they’re leaving untapped. It usually plays out the same way: A company spends months building something new, works through technical uncertainty, hires expensive talent and watches cash disappear faster than expected. Then it discovers SR&ED, files a claim and starts relying on that refund as the main source of support.

That’s often where businesses miss opportunities to strengthen their broader growth strategy. SR&ED is one of the most valuable programs available to innovative Canadian businesses, but it rarely needs to work alone. When combined with the right grants, subsidies and tax supports, it can reduce out-of-pocket costs across product development, hiring, research partnerships and market expansion.

There’s just one catch. Stacking only works when you understand how programs interact, which costs overlap and how government assistance can affect your SR&ED claimable expenditures. When it’s planned properly, a funding stack can reduce pressure on cash flow and create more flexibility for growth. Without the right structure, though, it can quickly become difficult to manage.

In this blog, we’ll cover five programs worth considering alongside SR&ED and what to watch before you apply.

Want help building a smarter funding strategy? Book a demo with our SR&ED team to see how the right support can help your business maximize eligible claims.

First, what stacking with SR&ED actually means

Stacking means combining SR&ED with other government funding programs that support different parts of your business. SR&ED is tied to eligible scientific research and experimental development work. Other programs may support wages, export activity, research partnerships or commercialization. Some overlap with R and D directly. Others support the activity around it, which still matters because it frees up budget for core innovation work.

The goal isn’t to apply for every program available. It’s to combine support that covers different costs, arrives at the right time and helps reduce pressure on the business as it grows. That overlap matters. If government assistance covers costs that would otherwise be claimable under SR&ED, it may reduce your SR&ED claim. Strong tracking and documentation are what keep a funding stack working in practice, not just on paper.

1. NRC IRAP

If your business is developing new technology and facing genuine technical uncertainty, NRC IRAP should be high on your list. The National Research Council Industrial Research Assistance Program supports Canadian small and medium-sized businesses undertaking innovation and technology development. For the right business, it can provide meaningful project funding alongside advisory support.

IRAP pairs well with SR&ED because the programs support different points in the innovation journey. IRAP can help fund work while the project is happening. SR&ED typically comes later, after eligible work has been completed and documented.

For growing businesses, that timing difference can make a real impact. It can create more breathing room to hire technical talent earlier, manage cash flow more effectively and keep projects moving during busy growth periods.

IRAP is often a strong fit for businesses:

• Developing new or improved technologies
• Running defined projects with technical risk
• Looking for support with labour or subcontractor costs
• Needing strategic guidance alongside funding

The key is keeping clear records from the start. If IRAP supports costs tied to SR&ED-eligible work, that assistance may reduce part of your SR&ED claim. Tracking funded activities early makes the process much easier when it’s time to prepare claims and reporting. Working with Employment Hero’s SRED experts can ensure you maximize both programs without the potential of costly mistakes if done incorrectly.

2. CanExport SMEs

Funding doesn’t stop once the product is built. If you’ve developed something valuable and want to sell it beyond Canada, CanExport SMEs is worth serious attention. The program helps eligible businesses expand into international markets by supporting activities such as market research, trade shows, translation and export development.

The pairing works because the two programs support different stages of growth. SR&ED helps businesses build and improve something valuable. CanExport helps them take that offering into new markets and start generating traction beyond Canada.

For many growing businesses, that combination can make expansion feel much more achievable without putting extra strain on product budgets.

CanExport is often a good fit for businesses that:

• Have refined their product or service
• Are preparing to enter international markets
• Need support for business development abroad
• Want to grow without pulling budget away from product development

CanExport usually sits further downstream than SR&ED, so direct overlap is less common. Even so, it’s important to separate commercialization and technical development costs clearly when activities begin overlapping.

3. Student Work Placement Program wage subsidies

Even strong product plans can slow down when teams don’t have enough capacity to deliver the work. That’s why Student Work Placement Program wage subsidies can be a useful addition to an SR&ED strategy. The program helps employers create placements for post-secondary students, lowering the cost of bringing emerging talent into the business.

It may not be the highest-profile funding program available, but for growing teams, it can solve a very practical challenge. Businesses often need support across engineering, testing and product work without being ready to hire every role permanently.

If students contribute to innovation projects, they can increase delivery capacity at a lower upfront cost while still fitting into a broader SR&ED strategy.

This program is especially useful for businesses needing:

• Junior developer support
• QA or testing help
• Short-term build capacity
• A future hiring pipeline

There’s still some administration involved. Wage subsidies count as government assistance, which means subsidized wages connected to SR&ED work may reduce part of the claim.

That doesn’t reduce the value of the program. It simply means accurate time tracking and payroll records become especially important when multiple funding programs are involved.

4. Mitacs Accelerate

Sometimes businesses don’t just need more people. They need access to specialized expertise. Internal teams can be highly capable, but some projects benefit from research expertise or academic collaboration that would be difficult to build in-house. That’s where Mitacs Accelerate can add real value.

Mitacs Accelerate connects businesses with post-secondary researchers through research-based internships tied to real projects. For companies doing advanced development work, it creates access to highly skilled support without carrying the full cost internally.

Mitacs works well alongside SR&ED because the programs support different layers of the same innovation effort. Mitacs can help businesses bring in graduate students or postdoctoral researchers to work on technical challenges, while SR&ED can offset eligible experimental development work being carried out by the company itself.

Mitacs is often a strong fit for businesses:

• Exploring difficult technical problems
• Validating new methods
• Building a deeper research foundation
• Wanting research support without immediate long-term hiring commitments

As with any funding stack, keeping project scopes, agreements and cost allocations organized early makes reporting and claims management much easier later on.

5. Provincial innovation support and tax credit programs

The right opportunities here depend on where your business operates. Alongside federal programs, many businesses should review provincial innovation supports, regional funding agencies and province-specific tax credits. Some provinces offer support for commercialization, digital products, clean technology, hiring or sector-focused innovation. Others provide tax incentives that complement federal support.

A useful place to start is the federal SR&ED program page, followed by a review of your province’s innovation ecosystem.

Provincial programs can add real leverage by supporting:

• Workforce expansion
• Commercialization activity
• Sector-specific innovation
• Provincial tax relief connected to R and D or digital products

Not every provincial incentive fits neatly alongside SR&ED. Rules and stackability can vary significantly, so it’s important to review eligible costs, timing requirements and how each program treats government assistance before applying.

What to watch out for when stacking with SR&ED

This is where funding strategies can become difficult to manage without the right planning in place. Start with timing. Some programs support activity before or during a project, while SR&ED is usually claimed after the work has happened. That timing affects cash flow, hiring decisions and how aggressively you can invest.

Next, look at the overlap. If multiple programs touch the same wages, invoices or project activities, you need a clean way to allocate those costs. Strong documentation is what keeps the strategy workable over time. Project objectives, employee time, wage allocations, approvals, contracts and invoices should all be organized in a way that still makes sense months later, especially when multiple programs intersect.

The most effective approach is to look beyond whether programs can be combined and focus on the bigger picture: how the funding will actually support long-term business growth once timing, overlap and reporting requirements are considered.

The bottom line

SR&ED is powerful, but for many Canadian businesses, it works best as part of a larger funding strategy. Programs like NRC IRAP, CanExport SMEs, Student Work Placement Program wage subsidies, Mitacs Accelerate and provincial innovation incentives can make a meaningful difference when combined carefully.

If you’re already pursuing SR&ED or considering it, step back and look at the full picture. Map your costs, review your funding options and build a strategy that reflects how your business actually grows. That’s where the real value of a well-planned funding strategy starts to show.CTA
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