The Information Technology Association of Canada (ITAC) says that the recent federal budget tabled in the House of Commons on February 26 presented little for the information and communications technologies (ICT) sector.

"The changes tabled today constitute a 1.1 percent improvement on the support the program provides. These measures simply aren't enough to incent substantial R&D investors to keep high-value knowledge jobs in Canada," said ITAC president and CEO Bernard Courtois. "We believe the program needs more substantive reform."

He noted that the government has acknowledged there are problems with the current Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) Program and is willing to address those issues. The feds committed $10 million to allow the Canadian Revenue Agency to allow for administrative improvement. This includes increasing the number of technical reviewers, improving training for technical resources and improving dispute resolution procedures.