Ontario Is A World Leader in Water Technology
The water companies in Ontario, Canada form part of a world-class water technology ecosystem. They include 900 water companies, 22,000 water industry employees, 42 Canadian Research Chairs dedicated to water, 100 technology incubators and 300 early-stage water technology developers with Ontario being a top ten leader in global water patent activity. KPMG has previously named Canada as the country with the greatest cost advantage for R&D in the G7.
Top global water technology firms have been attracted to Canada’s generous R&D programs, which can reduce the after-tax cost of every $100 in R&D spending to between $61 and $37. Companies with facilities in Canada include GE Water, American Water and Siemens Water Technologies. Canada’s research and development speaks for itself; UV disinfection and membrane filtration, some of the most widely used water technologies in the world, were developed here. Such innovations have allowed clean water become a reality for many people in the toughest parts of the world.
The Ontario government established the Water Opportunities and Conservation Act (WOWCA) in 2010 in an effort to help support the commercialization of innovative water, wastewater and stormwater conservation and treatment technologies. In addition, the Water Technology Acceleration Project WaterTAP was also established. Its main aim was to champion and support the province’s status as a global water technology hub by helping water technology entrepreneurs, utilities and investors to make the connections and find the resources they need to help meet the growing global demand for clean water solutions.
The WaterTAP project gave rise to a number innovative funding programs such as the Ontario Market Readiness Program whose main role is to fund early-stage commercialization by startups. Another one is the Investment Accelerator Fund whose aim is to help build and strengthen Canada-based firms through the provision of early-stage investment, with terms that are conducive to bringing on future investors into the country.
The Research and Development Tax Incentive Program is a federal incentive program for businesses of all industries and sizes to conduct R&D in Canada. To learn whether you can claim this credit, take our online eligibility wizard.
