Saskatchewan’s unique “patent box” incentive, introduced in 2017 and designed to position the province as an attractive location for the development and launch of innovative products, has secured its first successful investment.
Clean Seed Agricultural Technologies Ltd. (“Clean Seed”), headquartered in Burnaby, B.C., has received approval of its scientific eligibility under the Saskatchewan Commercial Innovation Incentive (SCII).
The company’s technology has proven to be innovative and first of its kind and Clean Seed can now establish and grow its presence in Saskatchewan in order to receive the benefits of this incentive.
“In the last election campaign, we promised Saskatchewan would be the first jurisdiction in North America to offer the patent box incentive, which has the potential to create thousands of jobs and attract millions of dollars in investment to our province,” Premier Brad Wall said.
“We are following through on that promise with the approval of Clean Seed Agricultural Technologies’ application under the program. We welcome Clean Seed’s commitment to Saskatchewan and note the company intends to move a significant portion of its operation to the province within three years, starting with 20 full-time jobs over that process.
“As we move forward, we expect more companies will take advantage of the incentive, creating opportunity for Saskatchewan workers while ensuring our economy remains strong.”
The SCII is open to any company in the world that would like to commercialize its innovative products and services in Saskatchewan.
It lowers the provincial corporate income tax rate to six per cent for 10 consecutive years for eligible corporations that commercialize their qualifying intellectual property in Saskatchewan. Companies can extend the benefit period to 15 years if 50 per cent or more of the related research and development in advance of commercialization has been conducted in the province.
“We are very pleased that Clean Seed is the first company to be approved under the SCII,” Clean Seed Chief Executive Officer Graeme Lempriere said.
“Our technology has evolved from initial concept to globally patent protected SMART Seeder products at our facility in Saskatchewan. As we springboard into commercialization, Saskatchewan is uniquely positioned as the epicenter of agriculture in western Canada and, with a business friendly provincial government, is an attractive place as a future operating hub for Clean Seed. With the proximity to our target market, Saskatchewan is clearly the ideal fit for our operations as we grow.”
Clean Seed’s SMART Seeder technology offers the highest level of precision possible for modern no-till seeding and planting operations by enabling true execution of high resolution prescriptions at each square foot of the field to suit soil conditions and fulfill agronomist recommendations.
Its technology is secured by a global patent portfolio which provides protection for its competitive advantage in all major stable agriculture markets. The CX-6 SMART Seeder that Clean Seed has developed from its technology has extensive, unique features which position it well for widespread adoption. The company has an on-farm facility in Midale, Saskatchewan which operates as its gateway to the Canadian prairies and is primarily used for development, prototyping testing and demonstration activities.
The SCII is administered by the Saskatchewan Ministry of the Economy.
The ministry is assisted by the Industrial Research Assistance Program, a division of the National Research Council, which provides technical assessment services for scientific eligibility evaluation; both the scientific and economic eligibility criteria must be approved before an applicant can qualify to receive the rebate certificate under the Incentive.
To learn more about the program, please visit www.saskatchewan.ca/innovation-incentive.
