BUSINESS INCENTIVES

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT INCENTIVES

Administered by SREDA, the Business Development Incentives is a tax abatement initiative that can include exemptions or reductions of any city tax or fee waiving of utility deposits and down payments on land; and exemptions or reductions of prepaid servicing levies. The incentive was established to encourage the attraction and expansion of businesses to facilitate investment and long-term job creation.

VACANT LOT AND ADAPTIVE RE-USE INCENTIVE PROGRAM

The Vacant Lot and Adaptive Re-use Incentive Program is designed to encourage development on existing vacant or brownfield sites, and the reuse of vacant buildings in established buildings in the city by providing financial and/or tax-based incentives to owners of eligible properties.

INDUSTRIAL LAND INCENTIVES PROGRAM

Through the Industrial Land Incentives Program, the cost of land can be deferred by offering a long-term lease at a 10-year locked-in rate based on the City of Saskatoon’s cost of borrowing plus 1%. There is also an option to purchase the land at the market value at the time of the lease agreement.

TECHNOLOGY & RESEARCH

SASKATCHEWAN TECHNOLOGY START-UP INCENTIVE

The Saskatchewan Technology Start-Up Incentive (STSI) offers a 45% non-refundable tax credit for individual and corporate equity investments in Eligible Technology Start-up Businesses (ESB), earning up to $225,000 in tax credits per annual investment in an ESB, with a maximum claim of $140,000 per tax year.

SASKATCHEWAN RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT TAX CREDIT

The Saskatchewan Research and Development (R&D) Tax Credit encourages innovative research and development activity in Saskatchewan. The 10% income tax credit is refundable on the first million dollars of annual eligible expenditures for Saskatchewan Canadian-controlled private corporations.

SASKATCHEWAN COMMERCIAL INNOVATION INCENTIVE

The Saskatchewan Commercial Innovation Incentive is a new growth tax incentive that offers eligible corporations a reduction of the provincial Corporate Income Tax (CIT) rate to 6%, for a period of 10 years. A first of its kind in North America “patent box” style tax incentive, the SCII program is open to a wide variety of eligible intellectual property (IP) types, including patents, plant breeders’ rights, trade secrets and copyrights (computer programs and algorithms).

MANUFACTURING INCENTIVES

MANUFACTURING AND PROCESSING PROFITS TAX REDUCTION

The Manufacturing and Processing Profits Tax Reduction, reduces the Saskatchewan Corporation Income Tax (CIT) rate by as much as 2% points on Canadian manufacturing and processing profits, as reported on the federal T2 CIT return. Saskatchewan-based firms with a high allocation of income to Saskatchewan will receive a larger tax reduction than firms with a low allocation of income.

MANUFACTURING AND PROCESSING INVESTMENT TAX CREDIT

The Saskatchewan Investment Tax Credit (ITC) for Manufacturing and Processing (M&P) is available to manufacturing and processing corporations filing a T2 CIT return with some allocation of taxable income to Saskatchewan. This is a refundable tax credit designed to encourage plant and equipment investment for M&P activities in Saskatchewan.

MANUFACTURING AND PROCESSING EXPORTER TAX INCENTIVE

The Manufacturing and Processing (M&P) Exporter Tax Incentives provide non-refundable tax credits to eligible corporations that expand the number of M&P-related full-time employees above the number that were employed in 2014.

The M&P Exporter Tax Incentive will also provide non-refundable tax credits to eligible corporations that expand the number of their full-time employees who primarily conduct activities that are typically considered to be “head office” functions. This portion of the incentive will offer an eligible business non-refundable tax credits equal to $10,000 in respect of each incremental full-time “head office” employee for each of the 2015 through 2022 taxation years.

CORPORATION INCOME TAX REBATE FOR PRIMARY STEEL PRODUCTION

The Corporation Income Tax Rebate for Primary Steel Production provides a tax incentive for eligibility primary steel producers that make a minimum capital investment of $100 million in new or expanded productive capacity.

AGRICULTURE & AGRI-VALUE INCENTIVES

SASKATCHEWAN LEAN IMPROVEMENTS IN MANUFACTURING

The Saskatchewan Lean Improvements in Manufacturing (SLIM) program provides funding assistance to agribusinesses for adoption of best practices, new technologies and state-of-the-art processes that stimulate improvements in productivity and efficiency.

SASKATCHEWAN VALUE-ADDED AGRICULTURE INCENTIVE

The Saskatchewan Value-Added Agriculture Incentive (SVAI) program offers a 15% non-refundable tax credit for value-added agriculture facilities that make a significant capital investment to expand production capacity. Qualifying projects include new and existing value-added agricultural facilities.

SASKATCHEWAN CHEMICAL FERTILIZER INCENTIVE

The Saskatchewan Chemical Fertilizer Incentive (SCFI) is a non-refundable, non-transferable 15% tax credit on capital expenditures valued at $10 million or more for newly constructed or expanded eligible chemical fertilizer production facilities in Saskatchewan.

PRODUCT2MARKET: VALUE ADDED

Product2Market: Value-Added promotes the development and expansion of small to medium-sized enterprises by supporting agri-business product development and the marketing of value-added products.

AGRICULTURE DEVELOPMENT FUND

The Agriculture Development Fund supports the growth of the agriculture industry in Saskatchewan by providing $15 million in ADF funding annually for public and private researchers to help develop solutions to emerging problems that constrain production and value-added processing.

MINING & ENERGY INCENTIVES

SASKATCHEWAN PETROLEUM INNOVATION INCENTIVE

The Saskatchewan Petroleum Innovation Incentive (SPII) is intended to encourage research, development, and demonstration of new technologies that facilitate the expanded production of Saskatchewan’s oil and natural gas resources.

OIL AND GAS PROCESSING INVESTMENT INCENTIVE

The Oil and Gas Processing Investment Incentive (OGPII) offers transferable oil and gas royalty/freehold production tax credits for qualified innovation commercialization projects at a rate of 25 per cent of eligible project costs.

OIL INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT INCENTIVE

The Oil Infrastructure Investment Program (OIIP) offers transferable oil and gas royalty/freehold production tax credits for qualified projects at a rate of 20 per cent of eligible project costs.

SASKATCHEWAN MINERAL EXPLORATION TAX CREDIT

Saskatchewan residents can invest in mineral exploration activities within the province by purchasing eligible flow-through shares issued by approved mineral exploration companies under the Saskatchewan Mineral Exploration Tax Credit (SMETC) program. The tax credit is 25 per cent (10 per cent provincial and 15 per cent federal).

TARGETED MINERAL EXPLORATION INCENTIVE

Part of the Saskatchewan Mineral Development Strategy, the Targeted Mineral Exploration Incentive (TMEI) supports the diversification of Saskatchewan’s mineral sector by encouraging exploration for base metals, precious metals, and diamonds. Other components of the strategy include the provision of new airborne geophysical data and complementary ground-based geoscience investigations.

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