IPIC Report on Federal Budget 2025

Federal Budget 2025: New Funding for Intellectual Property Programs
The federal government’s first fall budget introduces major investments and reforms aimed at boosting innovation, productivity, and infrastructure across Canada.

IP Related Highlights in the Budget

• $84.4 million over four years, starting in 2026-27, to Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada to extend the Elevate IP program, as well as $22.5 million over three years, starting in 2026-27, to renew support for the Innovation Asset Collective’s Patent Collective.
• $75 million over three years, starting in 2026-27, to the National Research Council to extend the IP Assist Program.
• An intellectual property performance review to identify new ways to partner with emerging and scaling intellectual property intensive firms, increase domestic investment in leading and high potential firms, retain and commercialise intellectual property in Canada, and help firms to protect and commercialise their intellectual property in foreign markets to advance trade diversification.
• Improving legal certainty and transparency in the intellectual property system to help facilitate more intellectual property backed lending and limit abusive behaviour.
• $925.6 million over five years to build a large-scale sovereign compute capacity, providing AI infrastructure to further support sovereign AI capacity in Canada and ensure a successful Canadian AI ecosystem.
• Increasing the prior-year taxable capital phase-out thresholds for the Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) program’s enhanced 35-per-cent tax credit.
• Increasing the annual expenditure limit on which the enhanced credit can be earned, from $3 million to $4.5 million.
• Extending the enhanced credit to eligible Canadian public corporations.
• Restoring the eligibility of SR&ED capital expenditures.
• Increasing the annual expenditure limit on which the SR&ED program’s enhanced credit can be earned from $4.5 million (as previously announced) to $6 million, effective for taxation years that begin on or after December 16, 2024.
• The government announced its intent to amend the Copyright Act to create an Artist's Resale Right in Canada, ensuring Canadian visual artists benefit from future sales of their work.

Although expansion of agent–client privilege was not included in this budget, the government has signaled openness to collaborating with IPIC toward its inclusion in the upcoming Spring Economic Statement.

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