Key Takeaway
Toronto has 17+ R&D tax credit specialists, from boutiques to global consultancies. Pricing runs on contingency (15-30% of the claim), flat fee ($5K-$20K+), or a mix, so match the model to your claim size before you match the firm to your industry.
A SR&ED claim is worth real money, and the filing is easy to get wrong. Miss eligible work and you underclaim. Overreach and you invite a review. A good consultant earns their fee on both sides of that line.
This article lists 17 specialists serving Toronto, what each one focuses on, and how to pick between them. The short version on pricing: contingency firms take 15-30% of your refund, flat-fee firms charge $5,000 to $20,000 or more. Below roughly $150,000 in claim value, contingency usually costs you less. Above it, flat fee wins.
Top 17 R&D tax credit specialists in Toronto
- Inference PM. Claims a 100% success rate, $4M+ recovered, personalized service
- SR&ED Coach Canada. $50M+ in successful claims, long client tenures
- Quantum Ledger CPA. 12+ years, CPA-led financial oversight
- Exactera. AI-assisted preparation, transparent pricing
- G6 Consulting. Contingency model, pay after a successful claim
- Kruze Consulting. Startup and VC focus, clients raised $15B+
- Cherry Bekaert. Proprietary survey tooling, large-firm process
- SRJ Chartered Accountants. Cloud-based, aimed at small businesses
- FI Group USA. 1,800+ experts across 15 countries
- Leyton. $1B+ in tax relief claimed, 70+ Canadian specialists
- RDP Associates. $500M+ secured, proprietary ICP program
- Tax Doctors Canada. CRA settlement and back-tax specialists
- BPM. Top 50 US firm, 35+ years
- CG Accounting. Small Toronto practice, beverage alcohol niche
- RD Partners. Engineers and scientists on staff, $200M+ claimed
- Toronto Starts. Startup community, education rather than filing
- Propulsio 360. Flat-rate pricing, lawyers on the team
What is the SR&ED tax credit?
SR&ED refunds part of what you spend resolving technological uncertainty. It covers wages, materials and contractor fees on work where the outcome wasn’t knowable in advance.
The program is large and it approves most of what it receives. In FY 2022-2023, businesses filed 20,464 claims, 91% were accepted, and the Government of Canada allowed $3.6 billion in Investment Tax Credits.
A Canadian-Controlled Private Corporation gets 35% refundable on the first $3 million of qualified expenditures. Everyone else gets 15% non-refundable. Ontario adds its own credits on top.
1. Inference PM
Website: inferencepm.ai
A boutique with 25+ years of combined experience. It reports a 100% success rate on $4M+ in refunds, and it brings your CTO or lead engineer into the eligibility assessment rather than working from a questionnaire.
Services cover eligibility assessment, documentation, financial analysis, CRA submission and audit support, with an expedited option for tight deadlines. Winner of a 2024 Canadian Choice Award. Clients include Visto.ai, PostGrid, MyStudia and Aboard.
2. SR&ED Coach Canada
Website: sredcoach.ca
More than $50M in successful claims, and some clients have stayed 15+ years. The firm reports no CRA clawbacks to date.
The model is coaching rather than outsourcing: they teach your team to document eligible activity as it happens. They also handle IRAP project management. Good fit if you want to build the capability in-house.
3. Quantum Ledger CPA
Website: quantumledgercpa.ca
A CPA team with 12+ years on SR&ED, working mostly with software and research-driven companies. Because they’re accountants first, the financial side of the claim gets more scrutiny than at a pure technical shop. They also handle corporate tax planning and audit support.
4. Exactera
Website: exactera.com
A software-led option. Exactera runs AI-assisted claim analysis with published pricing, which is unusual in this market. It also covers transfer pricing and tax provisions. Clients include Dyno Nobel, Red Ventures, Roseburg Forest Products and Jaggaer.
5. G6 Consulting
Website: g6consulting.ca
Pure contingency. You pay after the claim succeeds, which removes your downside and makes it a reasonable first stop if cash is tight. Services run from claim preparation through audit support and post-claim optimization. Clients include Trexo Robotics, Chelle Service Capital, TissueX and New Cut Metal Works.
6. Kruze Consulting
Website: kruzeconsulting.com
Built for venture-backed startups. Kruze clients have raised over $15B, and the firm pairs SR&ED work with CFO consulting, accounting and financial modelling. If you’re filing SR&ED and preparing for a round at the same time, one vendor covers both. Clients include Superhuman, Viz AI, Pequity, Avochato and Calm.com.
7. Cherry Bekaert
Website: cbh.com
A large firm with proprietary survey tooling and full audit defense. Strongest in manufacturing, technology and financial services. Also covers international and state and local compliance, which matters if you file on both sides of the border.
8. SRJ Chartered Accountants
Website: srjca.com
Cloud-based and aimed squarely at small business owners. Beyond SR&ED, they do startup corporate tax, bookkeeping and advisory. Client base skews to IT consulting, medical practices and real estate.
9. FI Group USA
Website: fi-group.com/ca
Global scale: 24+ years, 1,800+ experts, 30,000+ projects a year across 15 countries. Beyond SR&ED they handle grant management and innovation financing strategy. Focused on biotech, healthcare and manufacturing. Clients include Triple Inc and Weldaloy.
10. Leyton
Website: leyton.com
25+ years old with a 70-person Canadian SR&ED team and more than $1B in tax relief claimed. They also do grant management and sales tax recovery, and offer a client app. Clients include Lactanet, EXFO, Multifix, Electroline and Clinia.
11. RDP Associates
Website: rdpassociates.com
30+ years and $500M+ secured, using a proprietary Innovation Connection Program. They cover government grants alongside SR&ED, which is worth having in one place since the two interact on your books. Clients include DSPA Software, Cleanslate UV, Canada Cordage and Vision Knit.
12. Tax Doctors Canada
Website: taxdoctorscanada.ca
25+ years, specializing in CRA settlements and back taxes, with secure remote service nationwide. SR&ED is a secondary offering here. Call them if you have a CRA problem, not if you want claim preparation.
13. BPM
Website: bpm.com
A top 50 US accounting firm with 35+ years of experience and multidisciplinary SR&ED services, including federal and provincial credit analysis. Focused on life sciences, technology, aerospace and manufacturing.
14. CG Accounting
Website: cgaccounting.ca
A small Toronto practice led by CPA Christina Giles, with close to a decade of experience. Corporate and personal tax, bookkeeping, GST/HST and business consulting. Unusual niche: beverage alcohol. They’ll meet by email, phone, video or in person.
15. RD Partners
Website: rdpartners.com
20+ years with engineers and scientists on staff alongside tax professionals, and $200M+ in claims secured. They also handle e-business and multimedia tax credits, which matters in Quebec. Operating in Canada, the US and the UK. Clients include Medtronic and CQDM.
16. Toronto Starts
Website: torontostarts.com
Not a consultancy. Toronto Starts is Canada’s largest startup community, with 22,000+ members, and it publishes SR&ED education, guides and funding connections. Use it to learn the program before you hire anyone.
17. Propulsio 360
Website: propulsio360.com
Flat-rate pricing and a reported 99.9% success rate across 150+ companies. The team includes lawyers, so they also handle incorporation, contracts and financial strategy. Focused on technology, engineering and research-driven sectors.
How do you choose between them?
Start with claim size, because it decides the pricing model. Then narrow on industry.
Under $150,000 in expected credit: take contingency. You pay 15-30% of what comes back and nothing if it doesn’t. The percentage stings less than a flat fee that eats a third of a small refund.
Over $150,000: take flat fee. At $500,000 in credit, a 20% contingency is $100,000 for work that a flat-fee firm will do for $20,000.
First-time claimant: use the CRA’s free First-Time Claimant Advisory Service before you hire anyone. It costs nothing and it tells you whether you have a claim at all.
Then check three things about the firm. Do technical people write your narrative, or does a template? Is audit support included or billed separately? And will they tell you a project doesn’t qualify, or do they claim everything and let you carry the risk?
Watch the success-rate numbers. A 100% success rate can mean excellent work or a firm that only files easy claims. Ask what happened on their hardest one.
What’s the alternative to hiring a consultant?
Capture the evidence yourself, year-round, and the consultant’s job gets smaller and cheaper. Most of what you pay for is reconstruction: someone interviewing your engineers in March about what they built last June.
Chrono R&D pulls that evidence from the systems your team already uses, so the documentation exists before anyone starts preparing the claim. You can still hire a firm to file. You just stop paying them to remember things for you.
FAQ
What industries qualify for SR&ED?
Technology, manufacturing, biotech, software, engineering, agriculture and any field where you’re solving a technological problem with an uncertain outcome. The industry doesn’t decide eligibility. The nature of the work does.
How long does it take to receive a SR&ED refund?
The CRA targets 60 days for a complete claim that isn’t selected for review. Claims that go to review can take 180 days or longer. Filing with complete documentation is the main thing you control.
Can small businesses claim SR&ED?
Yes, and they get the better rate. CCPCs receive a 35% refundable credit on the first $3 million of qualified expenditures, against 15% non-refundable for large corporations. Refundable means you get cash even with no tax payable.
What happens if the CRA reviews my claim?
A review delays the refund and requires you to produce supporting documentation. Claims backed by contemporaneous records, commits, tickets and test results dated to when the work happened, resolve fastest. Claims backed by a narrative written at filing time are the ones that get adjusted.
What documentation do I need?
Technical records created during the work, payroll data, financial records, and evidence tying specific people and hours to specific eligible projects. Real-time tracking makes this a non-event. Annual reconstruction makes it a project.