15 Real Examples of SR&ED Eligible Projects in Canada

Opening Answer

If your team is solving technical problems where the solution isn’t obvious—even after applying standard methods—you may already have SR&ED eligible projects.

In practice, we see companies recover $20,000 to $150,000+ annually from work they initially thought was just “normal development.” For example, a software team spending $180,000 trying to resolve scaling failures in a distributed system could recover $27,000 to $63,000+ depending on eligibility and structure.

The key is not the industry—it’s whether your work involved technological uncertainty and systematic experimentation, as defined by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).

Software Development

1. Scaling a Multi-Tenant SaaS Platform

A team struggled to maintain performance across tenants under high concurrency.

• Standard load balancing and caching failed
• Latency spikes appeared unpredictably
• Engineers tested multiple queuing and partitioning strategies

👉 Eligible due to unresolved system-level constraints.

2. Real-Time Data Processing Pipeline

A company needed sub-second processing of streaming data.

• Existing frameworks couldn’t meet timing requirements
• Multiple architectures were tested (batch vs streaming hybrids)
• Trade-offs between throughput and latency required experimentation

3. Legacy System Refactor with Unknown Constraints

A rewrite of a legacy system revealed undocumented dependencies.

• Standard migration approaches caused system failures
• Engineers ran controlled refactor experiments
• Root causes were not initially understood

👉 Not just “refactoring”—this involves technological uncertainty SR&ED.

4. Cross-Platform Mobile Performance Issues

An app behaved differently across devices and OS versions.

• No clear cause using standard debugging
• Teams tested rendering pipelines and memory handling strategies
• Required iterative experimentation

5. API Reliability Under Distributed Failures

A system failed unpredictably under partial outages.

• Standard retry/failover logic didn’t solve consistency issues
• Engineers tested alternative state management strategies

👉 See how these map to eligibility in our SR&ED eligibility checklist.

Manufacturing Improvements

6. Reducing Material Defects Under Variable Conditions

A manufacturer faced inconsistent product quality.

• Environmental conditions impacted outputs
• Standard adjustments failed
• Multiple controlled trials conducted

7. New Production Process Development

A company attempted to automate a manual process.

• Off-the-shelf automation didn’t work
• Engineers designed and tested custom configurations

8. Tool Wear and Precision Degradation

Machinery produced inconsistent tolerances over time.

• Cause was unclear
• Engineers tested materials, speeds, and calibration models

9. Thermal Stability in Production

Temperature fluctuations affected product integrity.

• Standard cooling solutions failed
• Iterative process adjustments were required

👉 Explore industry-specific nuances on our software industry page and manufacturing industry page.

AI & Data Projects

10. Model Performance Plateau

An ML model stopped improving despite tuning.

• Hyperparameter tuning failed
• Engineers tested new architectures and feature engineering approaches

11. Training Data Limitations

Insufficient or noisy data affected model accuracy.

• Teams experimented with augmentation and synthetic data
• Outcomes were uncertain

12. Real-Time Inference Constraints

A model worked in testing but failed in production latency requirements.

• Optimization techniques didn’t generalize
• Engineers tested pruning, quantization, and pipeline redesign

13. Explainability in AI Models

A company needed interpretable outputs for compliance.

• Standard models lacked transparency
• Teams experimented with hybrid approaches

👉 These are increasingly common SR&ED examples in modern claims.

Failed Experiments (Still Eligible!)

This is one of the most misunderstood areas.

14. Feature That Couldn’t Be Built

A company attempted a feature that proved technically infeasible.

• Multiple approaches tested
• All failed due to underlying constraints

👉 Still eligible—failure can demonstrate true uncertainty.

15. Performance Optimization That Didn’t Work

A system couldn’t achieve required speed despite multiple strategies.

• No clear solution found
• Testing still produced valuable technical insight

👉 The CRA explicitly recognizes that success is not required—only that the work advances understanding.

What Makes These Eligible

Across all examples, the same core criteria apply under CRA SR&ED criteria:

1. Technological Uncertainty

• The solution is not obvious
• Cannot be solved using standard practices

2. Technological Advancement

• Work generates new knowledge
• Not just business improvement

3. Systematic Investigation

• Hypotheses tested
• Iteration and analysis documented

What Does NOT Qualify (Contrast)

• Routine feature development
• UI/UX improvements
• Standard debugging
• Simple system integrations

The difference is critical:

• ❌ “We improved performance”
• ✅ “We tested multiple architectures because standard approaches failed under real-world constraints”

From our experience across software, manufacturing, and AI-driven companies, the biggest missed opportunity is not lack of eligibility—it’s misidentifying what counts as uncertainty.

Many teams dismiss qualifying work because it feels like “just solving problems.”

FAQ

What are examples of SR&ED eligible projects?

Projects involving unresolved technical challenges, such as scaling systems, improving manufacturing processes, or optimizing AI models under uncertain conditions.

Do failed projects qualify for SR&ED?

Yes. As long as the work involved experimentation and generated technical insight, failure can still qualify.

Does software development qualify for SR&ED?

Yes—if it involves technological uncertainty beyond routine coding.

What industries qualify for SR&ED?

Software, manufacturing, engineering, biotech, and more.

How do I know if my project qualifies?

Use a structured framework like our SR&ED eligibility checklist or get a professional assessment.

Next Step

Most companies don’t miss SR&ED because they’re ineligible—they miss it because they misclassify their work.

We regularly uncover:

• Projects dismissed as “routine” that actually qualify
• Partial work that can still be claimed
• Technical efforts that were never documented properly

A focused review can quickly show what you’re leaving on the table.

Book an SR&ED eligibility assessment and get a clear, technical evaluation of your projects—before your next filing deadline.