SR&ED for electronics & hardware
A board revision proves that the design changed.
It does not, by itself, explain whether the team pursued a technological advancement.
The useful record starts where a reference design, simulation or established method stopped answering the question, then follows the measurements and design choices that came next.
Find the constraint that broke the known design
- Circuit or RF work where standard approaches could not satisfy the combined power, size, thermal or signal-integrity constraints.
- EMI, thermal or reliability investigations for which available fixes did not work under the actual design conditions.
- Firmware or embedded experiments shaped by hardware limits that made the outcome unpredictable.
- Prototype iterations that tested stated hypotheses and changed the team's understanding of the design behaviour.
Revisions alone are not experiments
Reference-design implementation, routine PCB layout, standard component integration and production testing generally fall outside SR&ED. Multiple spins may reflect ordinary engineering correction. The record needs to show the technological question each material revision tested.
Let the measurements explain each spin
Schematics and board revisions show what changed. Bench measurements, thermal and EMC results, simulation outputs and firmware history can show why. Keep the setup and acceptance criteria with the result, especially when a failed test drove the next design.
SREDlog can connect approved GitHub activity for the firmware trail and organize uploaded bench records against the project.
Frequently asked questions
No, not merely because it is new. Review the portion, if any, that pursued an advancement through experiment or analysis rather than applying established methods or a reference design.
No. They establish a chronology. Add the hypothesis, test setup, result and conclusion for the revisions that formed part of the investigation.
Keep board versions, bench measurements and firmware commits on the same project timeline. That makes it easier to see which software change belongs to which physical configuration. See evidence management.
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These industry examples are prompts for a fact-specific review, not categories guaranteed to qualify. Work must be conducted in Canada and meet both current CRA requirements; support work must directly support and be commensurate with eligible work. This is general information, not tax advice, and has not been reviewed by an independent qualified tax professional. See our editorial policy.