The headline 2026 tax changes — the 14 percent federal lowest rate, the cancelled capital gains increase, the larger SR&ED limit — were covered here in June and are settled facts. This post is different: it is a mid-year action checklist. With the first half of the year behind us, several measures have moved from "proposed" to "law", and a handful of items carry deadlines or planning decisions that land specifically between July 1 and December 31, 2026.
Here is what is now in force, what takes effect before year-end, and what you should act on now rather than in the January rush — each tied to its source.
SR&ED is now law, not proposal — and H2 year-ends claim under it
The expanded SR&ED regime is no longer pending. Bill C-15 received royal assent on March 26, 2026, enacting the enhancement in statute. The key parameters: the enhanced 35 percent refundable investment tax credit expenditure limit rises from $3 million to $6 million; the taxable-capital phase-out band moves to $15 million–$75 million; capital expenditures are restored as eligible; and the enhanced credit is extended to eligible Canadian public corporations.
The timing matters for the back half of the year. The rules apply to tax years beginning on or after December 16, 2024 — so any Alberta company with a year-end falling in the second half of 2026 prepares its claim under the new, more generous parameters. If your R&D spend was previously capped at the old limit, revisit what now qualifies before you close the year.
Source: CRA — SR&ED program updates.
The Alberta stack: the Innovation Employment Grant sits alongside SR&ED
For Alberta firms, the federal SR&ED credit does not stand alone. It stacks with the provincial Innovation Employment Grant (IEG) — a refundable credit of 8 percent (base) or 20 percent (enhanced) on eligible R&D expenditures, phasing out on taxable capital between $10 million and $50 million. The grant's earlier sunset has been removed, so it is now a standing credit rather than a time-limited one.
The practical point for H2 planning: an Alberta R&D dollar can attract both the expanded federal SR&ED credit and the provincial IEG. Model the combined position before committing to project spend, because the stacking materially changes the after-credit cost of research work.
Source: Government of Alberta — Innovation Employment Grant.
The productivity super-deduction: 100 percent first-year write-off for M&P buildings
A significant capital-cost incentive is now available. The productivity super-deduction allows a 100 percent first-year write-off for manufacturing and processing buildings — including major additions and renovations — acquired on or after November 4, 2025 and first used for M&P before 2030.
For Alberta manufacturers and processors weighing a plant expansion or facility upgrade, this changes the after-tax economics of the decision. If a qualifying building project is on the table for the second half of 2026, the timing of acquisition and first use determines whether the full write-off is available — worth confirming before you sign.
Source: Department of Finance Canada — Budget 2025.
Bare trusts: identify nominee arrangements now, file by March 2027
This is the compliance item most likely to catch owners off guard. Bare trusts must file a T3 return with Schedule 15 for taxation years ending on or after December 31, 2026 — with the first deadline falling on March 31, 2027. Years ending in 2024 and 2025 were exempt, so many owners have not filed for these arrangements before.
Some exemptions — for example, certain small-asset trusts — have been proposed, but do not plan around relief that is not yet confirmed. The action for the second half of 2026 is diagnostic: identify any nominee or bare-trust arrangements now — property held in one name for another's benefit, in-trust accounts, and similar structures are the usual culprits — so that the filing is prepared calmly rather than discovered at deadline.
Source: CRA — Trust reporting: what has changed.
Capital gains: 50 percent inclusion gives H2 dispositions certainty
For any Alberta owner contemplating a sale or disposition in the second half of the year, the ground is stable. The proposed increase to the capital gains inclusion rate was cancelled on March 21, 2025, and the inclusion rate remains 50 percent. The lifetime capital gains exemption sits at $1,250,000.
That certainty is the planning advantage. An H2 2026 disposition can be structured on known parameters rather than hedged against a feared increase — which underpins the value of the capital dividend account, the LCGE on a qualifying business sale, and ordinary investment planning inside and outside the corporation.
Source: Department of Finance Canada — capital gains inclusion rate.
Employee Ownership Trusts: the exemption is proposed to become permanent
Succession planning gets a boost. The $10 million capital-gains exemption on a sale to an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT) was previously set to expire at the end of 2026. In the Spring Economic Update 2026 (April 28, 2026), it is proposed to become permanent.
For owner-managers thinking about exit and succession, an EOT sale is worth putting on the table for genuine evaluation rather than dismissing as a closing window. Treat permanence as proposed until enacted, but the direction removes the "act before year-end or lose it" pressure that shaped earlier planning.
Source: Government of Canada — Spring Economic Update 2026.
Alberta carbon and tariff context for H2 operations
Two operating-cost items settled in the first half of the year and hold through H2. Alberta's TIER industrial carbon price is frozen at $95 per tonne — the scheduled 2026 rise to $110 was cancelled, with the freeze effective May 12, 2026. Separately, on June 3, 2026 the federal government extended steel and aluminum tariff remission by one year, continuing relief on U.S. steel and aluminum inputs that cannot be sourced domestically.
For emissions-exposed and metals-dependent Alberta businesses, both are cost-side certainties for the rest of the year — useful anchors when you build H2 forecasts.
Source: Government of Alberta — TIER Regulation.
Source: Department of Finance Canada — steel and aluminum tariff measures.
The payroll baseline: in force all year, with 2027 figures to watch
The 2026 payroll parameters apply across the full year and drive every remittance between now and December. The CPP YMPE is $74,600, the CPP2 ceiling is $85,000 (maximum CPP2 contribution $416 on each of employee and employer), the EI employee rate is $1.63 per $100 ($2.28 employer), and maximum insurable earnings are $68,900.
On the provincial side, Alberta remains a stability baseline: the general corporate rate is 8 percent, the small-business rate is 2 percent on the first $500,000, no Budget 2026 rate changes, and the minimum wage is unchanged at $15.00. The one item to watch: the 2027 CPP figures are expected in November 2026, so keep an eye out before you finalise next year's payroll planning.
Source: CRA — CPP contribution rates, maximums and exemptions.
Source: CRA — EI premium rates and maximums.
Source: Government of Alberta — Corporate income tax.
Source: Government of Alberta — Minimum wage.
Key takeaways
- SR&ED is enacted (Bill C-15, royal assent March 26, 2026): enhanced limit $3M→$6M, phase-out $15M–$75M, capital expenditures eligible again — H2 2026 year-ends claim under the new rules.
- The federal SR&ED credit stacks with Alberta's Innovation Employment Grant (8%/20% refundable) — model the combined position before committing R&D spend.
- The productivity super-deduction gives a 100 percent first-year write-off for M&P buildings acquired on or after November 4, 2025 and first used before 2030.
- Bare trusts must file T3 + Schedule 15 for years ending on or after December 31, 2026 (first deadline March 31, 2027) — identify nominee/bare-trust arrangements now.
- Capital gains stay at 50 percent and the LCGE is $1,250,000 — certainty for any H2 disposition.
- The EOT $10M exemption is proposed to become permanent (Spring Economic Update 2026).
- Operating-cost anchors: TIER frozen at $95/tonne; steel and aluminum tariff remission extended one year.
- The 2026 payroll baseline holds all year; 2027 CPP figures are expected in November 2026.
The second half of 2026 is less about new headlines and more about acting on what is now settled: claiming the expanded credits, catching the bare-trust filing before it becomes a scramble, and timing capital decisions around the super-deduction. If you want this checklist mapped onto your own year-end, R&D, and succession plans, RN Canada works with Alberta business owners to turn the calendar into a concrete set of actions.