Establishing a business in Canada. Invest Canada provides helpful information on immigration, taxation, laws and regulations, as well as relevant federal and regional organization, in addition to some guides to investing in Canada.
Establishing a business in Nova Scotia. Access Nova Scotia provides helpful information on licenses & permits, taxes, registration etc.
Establishing a business in Western Nova Scotia. BusinessNow assists prospective and existing business owners & leaders through a confidential, professional navigation service. Clients connect to the full spectrum of business supports in Nova Scotia and Canada through formal partnerships at all levels of government; municipal, provincial and federal.
Western Regional Enterprise Network and its Municipal and Provincial partners offer a variety of complimentary services to support potential and existing investors in the Western Nova Scotia region:
- Site selection assistance
- Support with permits and the approval process
- Assistance with identifying potential partners, distributors or suppliers
- Market research such as labour, demographic and logistical information
- Providing customized familiarization tours
- Assistance with talent recruitment and development
- Connecting with Municipal and Provincial governments and agencies
Workforce Incentives
Payroll Rebate: A performance-based financial incentive offered to qualified companies expanding or locating in Nova Scotia which provides a return on a company’s eligible gross payroll.
Innovation Rebate Program: Financial incentives on projects that enable Nova Scotia businesses to increase innovation capacity via private-sector capital investments or adoption of new technologies and business processes. Works as a rebate against a company’s direct costs.
Workplace Innovation and Productivity Skills Incentive (WIPSI): Provides eligible employers with a funding incentive to invest in employee skills development through workforce training.
Graduate to Opportunity (GTO): A two-year program that provides salary contributions to employers to offset the cost of hiring a recent graduate. Eligible employer could receive 25% of the graduate’s annual salary in year one, and 12.5% of the graduate’s annual salary in year two.
Strategic Co-op Education Incentive: Provides wage assistance to private sector, government-funded, and non-profit organizations offering career-related work experiences for university and community college co-operative students.
Research & Innovation Incentives
Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) Program: Provides tax incentives to encourage R&D in Canada. Administered by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), it is the largest single source of federal government support for industrial research and development.
Nova Scotia Research and Development Tax Credit: This incentive mirrors the federal SR&ED program, and provides an additional 15% tax credit to Nova Scotia corporations that incur qualified SR&ED expenditures made in Nova Scotia, as defined by the federal Income Tax Act.
Atlantic Innovation Fund: Aims to increase Atlantic Canada’s innovation capacity by funding R&D projects linked to the commercialization of technology-based products, processes or services.