Manitoba's Strategic Advantages
Research and Development
Research and development in Manitoba is conducted by government agencies, universities and private firms, often working jointly. Manitoba’s growing base of research-related activity has given the province an increasing international profile in agriculture and health biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, medical and diagnostic devices and industrial research.
The tax environment in Manitoba encourages industry to continuously develop new and innovative products and processes. Programs like the Manitoba Research and Development Tax Credit and the federal Scientific Research and Experimental Development Tax Incentive Program provide Manitoba companies with considerable leverage for their R&D investments. Studies by the Conference Board of Canada comparing the R&D tax incentives among the world’s industrialized countries have repeatedly found that combined federal and provincial R&D tax incentives in Canada are the “most generous and stable offerings in the industrialized world.”
Some examples of R&D centres in Manitoba include:
- International Centre for Infectious Diseases builds and coordinates capabilities across Canada’s infectious diseases sector.
- Canadian Science Centre for Human and Animal Health is Canada’s only Level 4 research facility for the study of human and animal disease organisms.
- Shared Health Research and Innovation supports clinicians and researchers throughout Manitoba’s regional health authorities, service delivery organizations and facilities including, but not limited to, Manitoba’s largest tertiary hospital, Health Sciences Centre.
- St. Boniface Hospital Research: leader in the fields of and cardiology, gerontology, nutraceuticals and magnetic resonance imaging.
- Cereals Canada: not for profit institute providing pre-market and in-market technical support for the Canadian grain sector.
- National Research Council Advanced Manufacturing Research Facility: serves industry and academia and increases the NRC's R&D capabilities in digital manufacturing and sustainable food packaging.
Researchers in Manitoba have the support to take their ideas to market.
Research at the University of Manitoba (U of M) has been making a big impact in the marketplace for decades. SmartPark—the University’s 100-acre multi-tenant research and technology park—allows Manitoba's knowledge-based industries to benefit from close university-industry interaction. Tenants of SmartPark include organizations in the fields of information and communications technology, electrical engineering, robotics, agricultural technology, biotechnology, biopharmaceuticals, functional foods and nutraceuticals.
Foreign Firms Can Access R&D Tax Credits in Manitoba
R&D tax credits available in Manitoba can provide significant cost advantages to firms that locate their R&D activities here. Foreign firms can access these cost advantages by either outsourcing their R&D to a Manitoba company, or by conducting R&D activities in a Manitoba subsidiary.
Advantages to foreign firms of locating R&D activities in Manitoba include:
- Reduced after-tax cost of eligible R&D, due to tax credits
- Competitive labour rates in Manitoba
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