SR&ED Consultants in Canada (2026): Fees, How to Choose, and When Software Is Enough

SR&ED consultants prepare the two halves of a Form T661 claim, the technical project descriptions and the expenditure calculations, and support you if the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) reviews it. The most common model is a contingency fee, which published guides put at roughly 10% to 30% of the investment tax credit (sources differ; some quote 15% to 30%, and one vendor puts small boutique firms at up to 35%), or a fixed fee of about $5,000 to $25,000 or more per claim. Software is usually enough when your R&D is already recorded in tools like Git and Jira, eligibility is clear and someone in-house owns the claim; a consultant earns the fee when eligibility is arguable, the claim is large or complex, or the CRA is already reviewing you.

Below: what you buy from an SR&ED consultant, what each fee model costs on a $100,000, $300,000 and $1 million credit, consultant vs software vs your own team, the questions to ask, and the CRA's rules on preparers. Program rules were checked against canada.ca, and every fee range is attributed to its source. New to the program? Start with what SR&ED is and who qualifies.

The SR&ED rules that set the size of the fee

A percentage only means something once you know the credit it applies to. The current federal rules, from the CRA's investment tax credit page (modified October 14, 2026):

• 35% enhanced, refundable credit for most Canadian-controlled private corporations (CCPCs) on qualified SR&ED expenditures up to the expenditure limit. For tax years beginning after December 15, 2024, eligible Canadian public corporations (ECPCs) can earn the 35% rate too.
• $6 million expenditure limit for tax years beginning after December 15, 2024 (it was $3 million before).
• 15% basic rate on qualified expenditures above the limit, and for other claimants.
• Phase-out: for a CCPC, the limit starts to shrink when prior-year taxable capital employed in Canada reaches $15 million and is nil at $75 million. For an ECPC, it shrinks as average revenue over the previous three years goes from $15 million to $75 million.
• Deadline: the claim is due 12 months after the tax return's filing due date, which gives corporations 18 months from the end of the tax year (T4088 guide). See our SR&ED deadline guide for dates by year-end.

Provincial credits can add to this, depending on where the work is done. Run your numbers through the SR&ED calculator before you talk to anyone.

What SR&ED consultants actually do

The work behind a claim splits into three jobs, whoever does it.

1. The technical narrative. Part 2 of Form T661 asks you to describe each project: the technological uncertainty, the systematic investigation, and the advancement sought. Consultants typically interview the people who did the work and write the descriptions for them; G6 Consulting, for example, says it interviews someone who can speak about the project and writes the technical essay on the client's behalf.

2. The financial schedule. The consultant (or your accountant) identifies eligible salaries, materials, contracts and overhead, chooses the overhead method, and completes the expenditure parts of the T661 and the investment tax credit schedule that goes with your return. Several firms, such as Scitax Advisory Partners, deliver this to your existing accountant rather than replacing them.

3. CRA review support. If the CRA selects the claim for review, someone has to answer information requests, prepare your team, attend meetings and, if needed, contest the result. KPMG, for instance, lists preparing staff before a review, attending meetings, second administrative reviews and notices of objection, and Scitax says it will take an assessment to a Notice of Objection or the Tax Court of Canada with an affiliated firm of tax lawyers.

What you do not hand over is responsibility. The CRA's advice to claimants says it is your responsibility to verify the accuracy of what is submitted on your behalf, even when a third party prepares the claim. For the form itself, see our T661 form guide.

How SR&ED consultants charge

The CRA recognises five billing arrangements on Form T661, and every consultant uses one of them or a mix:

Note the base in code 1: a contingency fee is a percentage of the credit, not of your R&D spending.

What each model costs, by source

Every published range we found comes from a firm that sells SR&ED services or software, so read them as indicative. Where sources disagree, both are shown.

Two things stand out. The two Chrono articles disagree about whether boutiques or the Big Four charge more, so treat firm-type tiers as rough. And nobody publishes a schedule: Scitax Advisory Partners, one of the few firms with a fees page, sets fees case by case and offers hourly, fixed fee with progress payments, or percentage success fee, with the fixed fee its most popular choice.

The only survey data we found is from 2012, in the accounting profession's submission defending contingency fees to a federal consultation, so read it with that in mind. The Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants surveyed about 350 chartered accountants working in industry. Where a contingency fee was used, it was under 10% of the credit for 25% of respondents, 10% to under 20% for 38%, 20% to under 30% for 25%, and 30% or more for 5%. Contingency was the most common arrangement (49%), followed by hourly (21%), a combination (16%) and fixed fee (13%).

Worked example: $100,000, $300,000 and $1 million credits

The table applies the published ranges to three federal credit amounts. It is illustrative arithmetic, not a quote. At the 35% enhanced rate, these credits correspond to about $286,000, $857,000 and $2.86 million of qualified expenditures, all inside the $6 million limit.

The GrantOps plan is $99 CAD a month (Starter) or $499 CAD a month (Professional), $1,188 or $5,988 a year at monthly prices; a free tier is also available. If a percentage also applies to provincial credits, the fee grows with them.

The pattern matters more than the exact numbers. A contingency fee scales with the credit, but the work behind a $1 million credit is not ten times the work behind a $100,000 one. Henderson's guide makes the same point: it calls contingency ideal for first-time claimants (no upfront cost, paid only on success) and fixed fees lower cost at scale for experienced claimants. G6 Consulting, for example, says it is paid only after the claim is approved and paid out.

SR&ED consultant vs software vs your own team

For a product-by-product comparison of SR&ED platforms, see our SR&ED software guide.

When software (or your own team) is enough

• Your evidence already exists. The CRA's guide says the best supporting evidence is contemporaneous documentation that is dated, signed and specific to the work, and that work with no relevant supporting evidence will likely be disallowed. Its examples include source code, design documents, time sheets, test results and meeting minutes; software teams keep much of that in commits, pull requests and tickets (how to use them as evidence).
• Eligibility is clear. If you can name the technological uncertainty in each project yourself, you do not need to pay someone to find it. The CRA's free Self-Assessment and Learning Tool and its SR&ED specialists can help you check.
• You can get an answer from the CRA first. Since April 1, 2026, Canadian corporations and partnerships in good standing with annual gross income under $25 million can request pre-claim approval for up to three planned projects, with a determination within eight weeks and approval valid for up to three years.
• Someone owns it. A controller for the numbers, a technical lead for the narratives, and an accountant who files the return.

When an SR&ED consultant earns the fee

• The CRA is already involved. A review or proposed reduction is adversarial, technical work. If it may end in a Notice of Objection or the Tax Court, choose a firm that handles appeals.
• Eligibility is genuinely arguable. Borderline work is where an experienced reviewer adds the most.
• The structure is complex. Associated CCPCs must share one expenditure limit, and the CRA lists confusion about business type, such as whether a CCPC is tied to another, among common claim errors. Claims near the $6 million limit or inside the phase-out also need care.
• Nobody internally has the time to write the descriptions or prepare for a review.

Many companies land in between: software produces the evidence and drafts, and a consultant reviews them for a fixed fee. Scitax, for example, offers a coach or advisory service besides full service.

How to choose an SR&ED consultant: questions and red flags

Questions to ask before you sign

1. What exactly is the percentage charged on? The credit earned, per the CRA's definition, but confirm: federal only, or federal plus provincial? The credit as filed, or the amount the CRA allows after a review? Is there a minimum fee?
2. Who defends the claim in a CRA review, and is it included? Ask who attends meetings, whether objections are covered, and whether it costs extra. One guide notes that some engagements price audit defence separately.
3. Will you include us in every conversation with the CRA? The CRA tells claimants to ask exactly this, and it advises preparers to bring the client and the key employees who worked on the project to review meetings.
4. Who writes our claim? A named person on staff, or a subcontractor? How much of our engineers' time will it take?
5. What documentation will you rely on? A good answer starts with your existing project records, not a blank page.
6. How will you complete Part 9 of the T661? Any preparer you pay should expect to be named, with their business number, billing code, rate and total fee.
7. How long is the engagement? Ask whether it renews automatically and what it costs to leave.

Red flags

• They ask you to leave Part 9 blank. The CRA's advice is direct: "Be leery of any preparer who asks you to omit this information from your claim."
• They promise an outcome. Nobody can. The CRA notes it is receiving claims containing false information more frequently, and the claimant remains responsible for what is filed.
• The fee base is vague. If they cannot tell you in one sentence what the percentage applies to, assume the larger number.
• Review support is silent. If the contract does not say who handles a CRA review and what it costs, ask before you sign.
• The claim is built from memory. In a review, the CRA asks for documents generated as the SR&ED was carried out. A claim written months later from interviews alone, with no project records behind it, is exposed.
• The rules are out of date. A quote that still cites a $3 million expenditure limit for a tax year beginning after December 15, 2024 is working from old rules.

What the T661 claim preparer disclosure means

Part 9 of Form T661 (2026 version) applies to "each claim preparer that has accepted consideration to prepare or assist in the preparation of this SR&ED claim." The T4088 guide excludes employees doing it as part of their job. For each preparer you report:

A mixed or tiered arrangement goes on several lines. The guide's example has one firm charging 15.5% on the first $10,000 of credit and 6% on the next $5,000, and another charging a $1,500 flat fee plus $75 an hour for five hours, for total fees of $3,725. Those numbers illustrate the form, not a CRA view on fees.

A $1,000 penalty may be assessed for each claim where the preparer information is missing, incomplete or inaccurate, and the claimant and the preparer are jointly and severally liable for it. The section has a history: in August 2012 the Department of Finance and the CRA opened a consultation on contingency fees (why firms use them, how common they are, the amounts charged), and the 2013 revision of the T661 added Part 9 after the March 2013 federal budget.

In practice: get each preparer's business number and fee arrangement in writing before you file. The definition turns on accepting consideration to prepare or assist and does not carve out software, so if you pay any outside party to help with the claim, ask your tax advisor how to report it.

Types of SR&ED consultants in Canada

Firms are grouped by type and listed alphabetically; this is not a ranking. Each description comes from the firm's own website, read on November 12, 2026.

Big Four and national accounting firms

• Deloitte runs a Global Investment and Innovation Incentives (Gi3) team, and says its Global Incentives application is used for SR&ED claims. In January 2024 Deloitte Canada added Flow, an SR&ED consultancy headquartered in Toronto.
• Doane Grant Thornton offers SR&ED claim preparation and optimization and guidance through CRA reviews and audits, with a team it says includes engineers, scientists, specialized accountants and former CRA auditors.
• EY lists identifying eligible activities and costs, claim preparation and help with government reviews, supported by its Business Tax Incentives Hub, which it says uses AI and machine learning to generate SR&ED costing workbooks.
• KPMG's Tax Incentives Practice says it has worked on SR&ED for more than 25 years, offering turnkey claim preparation, CRA review support, second administrative reviews and notices of objection.
• RSM Canada describes SR&ED support from scoping and documentation to application review and audit support.

For scale: in 2012, the seven largest firms polled by the CICA (BDO, Deloitte, EY, Grant Thornton, KPMG, MNP and PwC) reported $133.9 million in combined SR&ED fees, 62% of it under contingency arrangements.

Regional accounting firms with an SR&ED practice

• Insight Accounting CPA (Toronto) states that a typical SR&ED preparation engagement is $5,000 to $20,000 on a fixed fee.
• Schwartz Levitsky Feldman LLP (SLF), a Toronto chartered professional accounting firm with a Montreal office, lists SR&ED consulting among its services.

Dedicated SR&ED and innovation-funding consultancies

• Emergex lists offices in Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa, Quebec City, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg and Halifax, and covers SR&ED claims and SR&ED audits, Quebec credits such as the CRIC and CDAEIA, IRAP, and tax credit prefinancing.
• G6 Consulting lists locations in Toronto, Waterloo, Vancouver and Calgary, offers SR&ED consulting and SR&ED audit defence, and says it is paid only after the claim is approved and paid.
• Henderson Consulting & Associates publishes its view of market pricing (10% to 30% contingency, $5,000 to $25,000 or more fixed) and offers SR&ED consulting.
• Leyton Canada, part of an international consulting firm, covers SR&ED, Quebec's CRIC and government grants, from preparing the claim through handling CRA reviews.
• NorthBridge Consultants, a North Group company based in Cambridge, Ontario, covers SR&ED alongside film and TV tax credits, digital media funding, grants and loans, and clean economy investment tax credits.
• Scitax Advisory Partners (Toronto) plans, prepares and defends SR&ED claims with engineers, chartered professional accountants and tax lawyers, works alongside the client's own accountant, and offers full-service or coach/advisory engagements.

Software with in-house experts

• Boast combines technical and R&D tax expertise with an AI platform for Canadian and US claims, and says it represents clients during audits.
• GrantOps is covered in the next section.

Directories, and lenders that are not preparers

• scientificresearch.ca lists SR&ED consultants by region, including Greater Toronto. It publishes advertising rates and shows featured listings, so treat placement as advertising, not a ranking.
• Venbridge runs an SR&ED consultant directory you can filter by consultant type (independent, national or regional accounting and consulting firms), service and province. Venbridge itself is an SR&ED financing company.
• Easly (fundeasly.com) appears in searches for SR&ED consulting but finances SR&ED refunds, with advances it says range from $50,000 to $25 million. Financing a claim is not preparing it.

SR&ED consultants in Toronto and other cities

These firms list local addresses or locations on their own sites. Toronto: Emergex, G6 Consulting, Insight Accounting CPA, Schwartz Levitsky Feldman and Scitax. Montreal: Emergex and Schwartz Levitsky Feldman. Vancouver and Calgary: Emergex and G6 Consulting. Ottawa, Quebec City, Edmonton, Winnipeg and Halifax: Emergex. Waterloo region: G6 Consulting (Waterloo) and NorthBridge Consultants (Cambridge).

Where GrantOps fits

GrantOps is software with expert review attached, not a traditional consultancy. It turns the engineering and finance tools you already use into SR&ED claims: evidence is collected continuously from 15 native integrations (including GitHub, GitLab, Jira, Linear, QuickBooks and Xero) plus CSV import and an API, and a claim-ready package is drafted in days, not months.

• Pricing: a free tier; Starter at $99 CAD a month; Professional at $499 CAD a month; plus an 8% success fee on recovered funding. Partner licences for accounting and SR&ED firms run $30,000 to $50,000 CAD a year. Full details are on the pricing page.
• Scientific review: PhD-level experts, each in their own field, review the technical claims on request, or whenever a claim needs it before filing.
• Audit preparation: briefing material, talking points and simulated audits, so your team rehearses the questions the CRA will ask. It is rehearsal, not a promise about how a review will end; if your claim is already headed for an objection or the Tax Court, you want an advisor who handles appeals.

It fits companies whose R&D lives in those tools and who want to keep more of the credit, and SR&ED firms and accountants who want to prepare more claims from each client's own records. If your claim is in dispute today, or nobody on your side can review a technical draft, hire a specialist first. More on the GrantOps SR&ED page and in our SR&ED audit preparation guide.

Start free, or book 30 minutes and we will tell you whether your claim needs software, a consultant, or both.

Sources

All sources below were read on November 12, 2026. Fee ranges come from firms that sell SR&ED services or software and are indicative only.

Canada Revenue Agency and Government of Canada

• Form T661, SR&ED Expenditures Claim (2026 version, T661 E (26)): Part 9 lines 935 to 975, billing arrangement codes, filing deadline wording
• T4088, Guide to Form T661: claim preparer definition, Part 9 line-by-line instructions and example, $1,000 penalty, 18-month reporting deadline, Appendix 2 on contemporaneous documentation
• Get an investment tax credit (ITC): 35% and 15% rates, $6 million limit, ECPC eligibility, $15 million to $75 million phase-out, capital expenditures
• Are you preparing to claim SR&ED tax incentives? Here's what you need to know (CRA, May 30, 2023): working with a claim preparer, Part 9 warning, review meetings, common errors
• SR&ED T661 Claim Form, 2013 Revision, Claim preparer information (CRA, October 31, 2013)
• Harper Government Launches Consultations on Contingency Fees for the SR&ED Tax Incentive Program (Department of Finance, August 2, 2012)
• SR&ED support services: webinars, Self-Assessment and Learning Tool, Client Portal, SR&ED specialists
• Innovate with confidence: CRA's SR&ED Tax Incentive Program launches a new Pre-claim approval process (CRA, April 8, 2026)

Fee data

• CICA submission on SR&ED contingency fees (Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants, September 28, 2012, hosted by Scitax)
• How Much Does an SR&ED Consultant Cost in Canada? (Henderson Consulting & Associates)
• SR&ED Consultant Fees: What You're Really Paying (Chrono Innovation, June 26, 2026)
• SR&ED consultants vs software (Chrono Innovation, June 5, 2026)
• How Long Does It Take to Receive an SR&ED Tax Refund in Canada? (LawyerInfo)
• SR&ED refund estimator (Insight Accounting CPA)
• What an SR&ED consultant actually costs you (GrantCompass): fee base and audit defence questions
• SR&ED Consultant Fees and Service Options (Scitax Advisory Partners)

Firm and directory pages

• Deloitte: Global Investment and Innovation Incentives and Deloitte Canada is joined by Flow (January 29, 2024)
• Doane Grant Thornton: SR&ED and business tax incentives
• EY Canada: SR&ED and business incentives
• KPMG Canada: Tax incentives
• RSM Canada: Scientific research and experimentation development
• Schwartz Levitsky Feldman: SR&ED consulting
• Emergex
• G6 Consulting
• Leyton Canada
• NorthBridge Consultants and its SR&ED page
• Scitax Advisory Partners and its contact page
• Boast
• scientificresearch.ca
• Venbridge SR&ED Consultant Directory
• Easly