Canada: Pre-claim approval | Research Credit Integrity Alliance

Since April 1, 2026, eligible businesses in Canada can ask the CRA to decide whether planned projects meet the definition of SR&ED before the work starts. This page describes the process as the CRA has published it, what the application form asks, including about who prepared it, and what an approval means for the claim filed later.

Summary

Feature	What the official sources say
Start date	April 1, 2026.12
Nature	Optional.13
Origin	Announced in Budget 2025 as an elective process giving businesses up-front technical approval.2
Eligible businesses	Canadian-controlled private corporations, other Canadian corporations or partnerships, with less than $25 million in annual gross business income, in good standing with the CRA.134
Projects	Up to 3 per application; must be new work not already claimed, and not involve issues under objection or in litigation.45
Form	T1322, Application for Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) pre-claim approval, submitted through My Business Account.56
Decision	Within 8 weeks of a complete application.14
Validity	Up to 3 years.14
Appeal	No appeal process for determinations.4
Effect on the claim	Claims with only pre-approved projects that are selected for an expenditure review are generally processed within 90 days instead of 180.47

Origin

Budget 2025 announced that the CRA would implement an elective pre-claim approval process to give businesses up-front technical approval, and that for claims in the process requiring an expenditure review the processing time would be cut in half, to 90 days from 180 days.2 It stated that these administrative improvements would be implemented into SR&ED program operations as of April 1, 2026.2 The CRA announced the launch on April 8, 2026, describing the process as optional and intended to help eligible small and medium businesses find out whether their projects qualify before work starts or costs are incurred.1

No provision of the Income Tax Act establishing the process was identified for this page; the official sources describe it as an administrative process of the CRA.

Who can apply

The CRA's information sheet states that the business must operate in Canada, have less than $25 million in annual gross business income, be a Canadian-controlled private corporation, a Canadian corporation or a partnership, and be in good standing with the CRA.4 Each project must represent new work (not a project that has already been reviewed and received an eligibility determination), address a scientific or technological uncertainty, involve a systematic investigation or search through experimentation or analysis, and not involve issues currently under objection or in litigation.4 The CRA's application page adds that the project must not have been claimed in a previous tax year.3

The process

The CRA describes the following steps.148

Step	What happens
1. Request a case number	A short web form asks for a contact name, the legal name of the business and, if it has one, its business number. Existing claimants in good standing are contacted within 2 business days through My Business Account; others within 5 business days by phone.
2. Apply in My Business Account	The business completes Form T1322 for up to 3 projects and uploads its supporting documents.
3. Meet an SR&ED specialist	New claimants will be contacted, and existing claimants may be contacted, to schedule a meeting with an SR&ED specialist.
4. Receive a determination	The CRA decides within 8 weeks whether the planned projects meet the definition of SR&ED.
5. Claim after the work	The business files its SR&ED claim once the work has been undertaken.

What Form T1322 asks

For each project, Form T1322 asks for the title, anticipated start date, estimated total SR&ED expenditures, field of science or technology, and a contact person for technical information.6 It then asks three questions: what scientific or technological uncertainty the business aims to address (maximum 500 words), what due diligence it has completed to confirm the uncertainty cannot be resolved using existing knowledge (maximum 700 words), and what work it plans to perform during the pre-claim approval period of up to 3 years (maximum 900 words).6

The business must provide documentation created by the business to support the project descriptions. The form gives examples: project planning documents, a description of planned internal controls for tracking SR&ED work and expenditures, key supporting references showing due diligence, and a list of project team members.6

Who prepared the application

Section C of Form T1322 asks who prepared the responses to the project description questions. The business ticks either an employee of the business (lines 050 and 052) or an external consultant (lines 054 and 056); if it ticks external consultant, it gives the consultant's firm and business number (lines 058 and 060).6 The CRA's instructions ask the business to provide this information on either line 050 or line 054.5

Form T1322 does not ask for a billing arrangement, billing rate or fee for the external consultant.6 Those details are requested later, in Part 9 of Form T661, for every claim preparer paid to prepare or assist in preparing the SR&ED claim itself.9 The penalty in subsection 162(5.1) of the Income Tax Act applies to claim preparer information required in an SR&ED form, which the Act defines as a prescribed form required under subsection 37(11), that is, the claim.10

Part 3 of Form T1322 is a certification, signed by an authorized signing officer of the business, that the information on the form and attachments is, to the best of the signer's knowledge, true, correct and complete.6 The CRA states that businesses are responsible for the information in their pre-claim approval application.11 The CRA's instructions say the contact person, or another individual from the business with the technical knowledge, will need to attend the meeting with the CRA.5

Effect on the later claim

Form T661 asks, for each project, whether the project was pre-approved, and for the pre-approval case number (lines 212 and 214).9 The CRA states that claims containing only projects granted pre-claim approval that are selected for an expenditure review benefit from processing times cut in half, from 180 days to 90 days.4 Its review guide states that such reviews are generally processed within 90 calendar days of receiving the complete claim, but that if projects differ significantly from what was approved, or the claim includes projects that were not approved, the CRA may review both the work and the expenditures under the standard processing times.7

An approval therefore relates to the eligibility of the planned work. The expenditures claimed can still be reviewed.7 See reviews and audits.

If approval is not granted

The CRA's information sheet states that there is no appeal process for pre-claim approval determinations. If approval is not granted, the business can still submit a regular SR&ED claim after the work is undertaken, and the CRA may review that claim.4 The ordinary objection and appeal rights apply to the assessment of the claim itself; see disputes and appeals.

Open points

The CRA's pre-claim approval pages reviewed for this page do not mention claim preparers or representatives applying on a business's behalf, apart from the external consultant question on Form T1322.35
The CRA had not published figures on the number of applications or approvals in the sources reviewed for this page.

Sources

Canada Revenue Agency, Innovate with confidence: CRA's SR&ED Tax Incentive Program launches a new Pre-claim approval process (April 8, 2026). https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/news/newsroom/tax-tips/tax-tips-2026/innovate-confidence-cra-sred-tax-incentive-program-pre-claim-approval-process.html (accessed 11 October 2026). Back
Department of Finance Canada, Budget 2025, Chapter 1, section "Enhancing the Scientific Research and Experimental Development Tax Incentives". https://budget.canada.ca/2025/report-rapport/chap1-en.html (accessed 11 October 2026). Back
Canada Revenue Agency, Apply for pre-claim approval, Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) tax incentives, sections on eligibility criteria and how to apply. https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/scientific-research-experimental-development-tax-incentive-program/apply-pre-claim-approval.html (accessed 11 October 2026). Back
Canada Revenue Agency, SR&ED Pre-claim approval, information sheet (Cat. Rv4-224/2026E-PD). https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/cra-arc/serv-info/sred/pca-is-en.pdf (accessed 11 October 2026). Back
Canada Revenue Agency, Complete your application, pre-claim approval, sections on Part 1, Part 2 (Sections A to D) and Part 3. https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/scientific-research-experimental-development-tax-incentive-program/apply-pre-claim-approval/complete-application.html (accessed 11 October 2026). Back
Canada Revenue Agency, Form T1322, Application for Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) pre-claim approval, T1322 E, Parts 1 to 3 (lines 010 to 082). https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/cra-arc/formspubs/pbg/t1322/t1322-26e.pdf (accessed 11 October 2026). Back
Canada Revenue Agency, The SR&ED Review Process: A Guide for Claimants (April 20, 2026), section "Claims including projects that were granted pre-claim approval". https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/scientific-research-experimental-development-tax-incentive-program/technical-review-a-guide-claimants.html (accessed 11 October 2026). Back
Canada Revenue Agency, Request a case number, pre-claim approval. https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/scientific-research-experimental-development-tax-incentive-program/apply-pre-claim-approval/request-case-number.html (accessed 11 October 2026). Back
Canada Revenue Agency, Form T661, Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) Expenditures Claim, T661 E (26), Part 2 (lines 212 and 214) and Part 9, Claim preparer information. https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/cra-arc/formspubs/pbg/t661/t661-26e.pdf (accessed 11 October 2026). Back
Government of Canada, Income Tax Act, RSC 1985, c 1 (5th Supp), subsections 162(5.1) and (5.3), definition of "SR&ED form". https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/I-3.3/section-162.html (accessed 11 October 2026). Back
Canada Revenue Agency, Submit your application, pre-claim approval. https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/scientific-research-experimental-development-tax-incentive-program/apply-pre-claim-approval/submit-application.html (accessed 11 October 2026). Back