Income Tax Act

Marginal note:Amount to be included in income

• 66.1 (1) There shall be included in computing the amount referred to in paragraph 59(3.2)(b) in respect of a taxpayer for a taxation year the amount, if any, by which

  • (a) the total of all amounts referred to in the descriptions of F to M in the definition cumulative Canadian exploration expense in subsection 66.1(6) that are deducted in computing the taxpayer’s cumulative Canadian exploration expense at the end of the year

  exceeds the total of

  • (b) all amounts referred to in the descriptions of A to E.1 in the definition cumulative Canadian exploration expense in subsection 66.1(6) that are included in computing the taxpayer’s cumulative Canadian exploration expense at the end of the year, and

  • (c) the total determined under subparagraph 66.7(12.1)(a)(i) in respect of the taxpayer for the year.

• Marginal note:Deduction for certain principal-business corporations

  (2) In computing the income for a taxation year of a principal-business corporation (other than a corporation that would not be a principal-business corporation if the definition principal-business corporation in subsection 66(15) were read without reference to paragraphs (h) and (i) of that definition), there may be deducted any amount that the corporation claims not exceeding the lesser of

  • (a) the total of

    • (i) the amount, if any, by which its cumulative Canadian exploration expense at the end of the year exceeds the amount, if any, designated by it for the year under subsection 66(14.1), and

    • (ii) the amount, if any, by which

      • (A) the total determined under subparagraph 66.7(12.1)(a)(i) in respect of the corporation for the year

      exceeds

      • (B) the amount that would be determined under subsection 66.1(1) in respect of the corporation for the year, if that subsection were read without reference to paragraph (c) thereof, and

  • (b) the amount, if any, by which

    • (i) the amount that would be its income for the year if no deduction (other than a prescribed deduction) were allowed under this subsection or section 65

    exceeds

    • (ii) the total of all amounts each of which is an amount deducted by the corporation under section 112 or 113 in computing its taxable income for the year.

• Marginal note:Expenses of other taxpayer

  (3) In computing the income for a taxation year of a taxpayer that is not a principal-business corporation, or that is a corporation that would not be a principal-business corporation if the definition principal-business corporation in subsection 66(15) were read without reference to paragraphs (h) and (i) of that definition, there may be deducted such amount as the taxpayer claims not exceeding the total of

  • (a) the amount, if any, by which the taxpayer’s cumulative Canadian exploration expense at the end of the year exceeds the amount, if any, designated by the taxpayer for the year under subsection 66(14.1), and

  • (b) the amount, if any, by which

    • (i) the total determined under subparagraph 66.7(12.1)(a)(i) in respect of the taxpayer for the year

    exceeds

    • (ii) the amount that would, but for paragraph 66.1(1)(c), be the amount determined under subsection 66.1(1) in respect of the taxpayer for the year.

• Marginal note:Definitions

  (6) In this section,

  bitumen mine development project

  projet de mise en valeur d’une mine de bitume

  bitumen mine development project, of a taxpayer, means an undertaking for the sole purpose of developing a new mine to extract and process tar sands from a mineral resource of the taxpayer to produce bitumen or a similar product; (projet de mise en valeur d’une mine de bitume)

  bitumen upgrading development project

  projet de valorisation du bitume

  bitumen upgrading development project, of a taxpayer, means an undertaking for the sole purpose of constructing an upgrading facility to process bitumen or a similar feedstock (all or substantially all of which is from a mineral resource of the taxpayer) from a new mine to the crude oil stage or its equivalent; (projet de valorisation du bitume)

  Canadian exploration expense

  frais d’exploration au Canada

  Canadian exploration expense of a taxpayer means any expense incurred after May 6, 1974 that is

  • (a) any expense including a geological, geophysical or geochemical expense incurred by the taxpayer (other than an expense incurred in drilling or completing an oil or gas well or in building a temporary access road to, or preparing a site in respect of, any such well) for the purpose of determining the existence, location, extent or quality of an accumulation of petroleum or natural gas (other than a mineral resource) in Canada,

  • (b) any expense (other than an expense incurred in drilling or completing an oil or gas well or in building a temporary access road to, or preparing a site in respect of, any such well) incurred by the taxpayer after March, 1985 for the purpose of bringing a natural accumulation of petroleum or natural gas (other than a mineral resource) in Canada into production and incurred prior to the commencement of the production (other than the production from an oil or gas well) in reasonable commercial quantities from such accumulation, including

    • (i) clearing, removing overburden and stripping, and

    • (ii) sinking a shaft or constructing an adit or other underground entry,

  • (c) any expense incurred before April, 1987 in drilling or completing an oil or gas well in Canada or in building a temporary access road to, or preparing a site in respect of, any such well,

    • (i) incurred by the taxpayer in the year, or

    • (ii) incurred by the taxpayer in any previous year and included by the taxpayer in computing the taxpayer’s Canadian development expense for a previous taxation year,

    if, within six months after the end of the year, the drilling of the well is completed and

    • (iii) it is determined that the well is the first well capable of production in commercial quantities from an accumulation of petroleum or natural gas (other than a mineral resource) not previously known to exist, or

    • (iv) it is reasonable to expect that the well will not come into production in commercial quantities within twelve months of its completion,

  • (d) any expense incurred by the taxpayer after March, 1987 and in a taxation year of the taxpayer in drilling or completing an oil or gas well in Canada or in building a temporary access road to, or preparing a site in respect of, any such well if

    • (i) the drilling or completing of the well resulted in the discovery that a natural underground reservoir contains petroleum or natural gas, where

      • (A) before the time of the discovery, no person or partnership had discovered that the reservoir contained either petroleum or natural gas, and

      • (B) the discovery occurred at any time before six months after the end of the year,

    • (ii) the well is abandoned in the year or within six months after the end of the year without ever having produced otherwise than for specified purposes,

    • (iii) the period of 24 months commencing on the day of completion of the drilling of the well ends in the year, the expense was incurred within that period and in the year and the well has not within that period produced otherwise than for specified purposes, or

    • (iv) there has been filed with the Minister, on or before the day that is 6 months after the end of the taxation year of the taxpayer in which the drilling of the well was commenced, a certificate issued by the Minister of Natural Resources certifying that, on the basis of evidence submitted to that Minister, that Minister is satisfied that

      • (A) the total of expenses incurred and to be incurred in drilling and completing the well, in building a temporary access road to the well and in preparing the site in respect of the well will exceed $5,000,000, and

      • (B) the well will not produce, otherwise than for a specified purpose, within the period of 24 months commencing on the day on which the drilling of the well is completed,

  • (e) any expense deemed by subsection 66.1(9) to be a Canadian exploration expense incurred by the taxpayer,

  • (f) any expense incurred by the taxpayer (other than an expense incurred in drilling or completing an oil or gas well or in building a temporary access road to, or preparing a site in respect of, any such well) for the purpose of determining the existence, location, extent or quality of a mineral resource in Canada including any expense incurred in the course of

    • (i) prospecting,

    • (ii) carrying out geological, geophysical or geochemical surveys,

    • (iii) drilling by rotary, diamond, percussion or other methods, or

    • (iv) trenching, digging test pits and preliminary sampling,

    but not including

    • (v) any Canadian development expense,

    • (v.1) any expense described in subparagraph (i), (iii) or (iv) in respect of the mineral resource, incurred before a new mine in the mineral resource comes into production in reasonable commercial quantities, that results in revenue or can reasonably be expected to result in revenue earned before the new mine comes into production in reasonable commercial quantities, except to the extent that the total of all such expenses exceeds the total of those revenues, or

    • (vi) any expense that may reasonably be considered to be related to a mine in the mineral resource that has come into production in reasonable commercial quantities or to be related to a potential or actual extension of the mine,

  • (g) any expense incurred by the taxpayer after November 16, 1978 for the purpose of bringing a new mine in a mineral resource in Canada, other than a bituminous sands deposit or an oil shale deposit, into production, in reasonable commercial quantities and incurred before the new mine comes into production in such quantities, including an expense for clearing, removing overburden, stripping, sinking a mine shaft or constructing an adit or other underground entry, but not including any expense that results in revenue or can reasonably be expected to result in revenue earned before the new mine comes into production in reasonable commercial quantities, except to the extent that the total of all such expenses exceeds the total of those revenues,

  • (g.1) any Canadian renewable and conservation expense incurred by the taxpayer,

  • (g.2) any expense incurred by the taxpayer after March 21, 2011, that is

    • (i) a specified oil sands mine development expense, or

    • (ii) an eligible oil sands mine development expense,

  • (h) subject to section 66.8, the taxpayer’s share of any expense referred to in any of paragraphs (a) to (d) and (f) to (g.1) incurred by a partnership in a fiscal period thereof, if at the end of the period the taxpayer is a member of the partnership, or

  • (i) any expense referred to in any of paragraphs (a) to (g) incurred by the taxpayer pursuant to an agreement in writing with a corporation, entered into before 1987, under which the taxpayer incurred the expense solely as consideration for shares, other than prescribed shares, of the capital stock of the corporation issued to the taxpayer or any interest in or right to — or, for civil law, any right in or to — such shares,

  but for greater certainty, shall not include

  • (j) any consideration given by the taxpayer for any share or any interest in or right to — or, for civil law, any right in or to — a share, except as provided by paragraph (i),

  • (k) any expense described in paragraph (i) incurred by any other taxpayer to the extent that the expense was,

    • (i) by virtue of that paragraph, a Canadian exploration expense of that other taxpayer,

    • (ii) by virtue of paragraph (g) of the definition Canadian development expense in subsection 66.2(5), a Canadian development expense of that other taxpayer, or

    • (iii) by virtue of paragraph (c) of the definition Canadian oil and gas property expense in subsection 66.4(5), a Canadian oil and gas property expense of that other taxpayer,

  • (k.1) an expense that is the cost, or any part of the cost, to the taxpayer of any depreciable property of a prescribed class that was acquired after 1987,

  • (k.2) [Repealed, 2011, c. 24, s. 14]

  • (l) any amount (other than a Canadian renewable and conservation expense) included at any time in the capital cost to the taxpayer of any depreciable property of a prescribed class,

  • (m) an expenditure incurred at any time after the commencement of production from a Canadian resource property of the taxpayer in order to evaluate the feasibility of a method of recovery of, or to assist in the recovery of, petroleum, natural gas or related hydrocarbons from the portion of a natural reservoir to which the Canadian resource property relates,

  • (n) an expenditure incurred at any time relating to the injection of any substance to assist in the recovery of petroleum, natural gas or related hydrocarbons from a natural reservoir, or

  • (o) the taxpayer’s share of any consideration, expense, cost or expenditure referred to in any of paragraphs (j) to (n) given or incurred by a partnership,

  but any assistance that a taxpayer has received or is entitled to receive after May 25, 1976 in respect of or related to the taxpayer’s Canadian exploration expense shall not reduce the amount of any of the expenses described in any of paragraphs (a) to (i); (frais d’exploration au Canada)

  Canadian renewable and conservation expense

  frais liés aux énergies renouvelables et à l’économie d’énergie au Canada

  Canadian renewable and conservation expense has the meaning assigned by regulation, and for the purpose of determining whether an outlay or expense meets the criteria set out in the Regulations in respect of Canadian renewable and conservation expenses, the Technical Guide to Canadian Renewable and Conservation Expenses, as amended from time to time and published by the Department of Natural Resources, shall apply conclusively with respect to engineering and scientific matters; (frais liés aux énergies renouvelables et à l’économie d’énergie au Canada)

  completion

  achèvement

  completion, of a specified oil sands mine development project, means the first attainment of a level of average output, measured over a 60-day period, equal to at least 60% of the planned level of average daily output (as determined in paragraph (b) of the definition specified oil sands mine development project) for the specified oil sands mine development project; (achèvement)

  cumulative Canadian exploration expense

  frais cumulatifs d’exploration au Canada

  cumulative Canadian exploration expense of a taxpayer at any time in a taxation year means the amount determined by the formula

  (A+B+C+D+E+E.1) - (F+G+H+I+J+J.1+K+L+M)

  where

  A

  is the total of all Canadian exploration expenses made or incurred by the taxpayer before that time,

  B

  is the total of all amounts that were, because of subsection (1), included in computing the amount referred to in paragraph 59(3.2)(b) for the taxpayer’s taxation years ending before that time,

  C

  is the total of all amounts, except amounts in respect of interest, paid by the taxpayer after May 6, 1974 and before that time to Her Majesty in right of Canada in respect of amounts paid to the taxpayer before May 25, 1976 under the regulations referred to in paragraph (a) of the description of H,

  D

  is the total of all amounts referred to in the description of G that are established by the taxpayer to have become bad debts before that time,

  E

  is such part, if any, of the amount determined for J as has been repaid before that time by the taxpayer pursuant to a legal obligation to repay all or any part of that amount,

  E.1

  is the total of all specified amounts determined under paragraph 66.7(12.1)(a) in respect of the taxpayer for taxation years ending before that time,

  F

  is the total of all amounts deducted or required to be deducted in computing the taxpayer’s income for a taxation year ending before that time in respect of the taxpayer’s cumulative Canadian exploration expense,

  G

  is the total of all amounts that became receivable by the taxpayer before that time that are to be included in the amount determined under this description by virtue of paragraph 66(12.1)(a) or 66(12.2)(a),

  H

  is the total of all amounts paid to the taxpayer after May 6, 1974 and before May 25, 1976

  • (a) under the Northern Mineral Exploration Assistance Regulations made under an appropriation Act that provides for payments in respect of the Northern Mineral Grants Program, or

  • (b) pursuant to any agreement entered into between the taxpayer and Her Majesty in right of Canada under the Northern Mineral Grants Program or the Development Program of the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development,

  to the extent that the amounts have been expended by the taxpayer as or on account of Canadian exploration and development expenses or Canadian exploration expense incurred by the taxpayer,

  I

  is the total of all amounts each of which is an amount received before that time on account of any amount referred to in the description of,

  J

  is the total amount of assistance that the taxpayer has received or is entitled to receive in respect of any Canadian exploration expense incurred after 1980 or that can reasonably be related to Canadian exploration activities after 1980, to the extent that the assistance has not reduced the taxpayer’s Canadian exploration expense by virtue of paragraph 66.1(9)(g),

  J.1

  is the total of all amounts by which the cumulative Canadian exploration expense of the taxpayer is required because of subsection 80(8) to be reduced at or before that time,

  K

  is the total of all amounts that are required to be deducted before that time under subsection 66(14.1) in computing the taxpayer’s cumulative Canadian exploration expense,

  L

  is that portion of the total of all amounts each of which was deducted by the taxpayer under subsection 127(5) or (6) for a taxation year that ended before that time and that can reasonably be attributed to a qualified Canadian exploration expenditure, a pre-production mining expenditure or a flow-through mining expenditure (each expenditure within the meaning assigned by subsection 127(9)) made in a preceding taxation year, and

  M

  is the total of all amounts that are required to be deducted before that time under paragraph 66.7(12)(b) in computing the taxpayer’s cumulative Canadian exploration expense;

  designated asset

  bien désigné

  designated asset, in respect of an oil sands mine development project of a taxpayer, means a property that is a building, a structure, machinery or equipment and is, or is an integral and substantial part of,

  • (a) in the case of a bitumen mine development project,

    • (i) a crusher,

    • (ii) a froth treatment plant,

    • (iii) a primary separation unit,

    • (iv) a steam generation plant,

    • (v) a cogeneration plant, or

    • (vi) a water treatment plant, or

  • (b) in the case of a bitumen upgrading development project,

    • (i) a gasifier unit,

    • (ii) a vacuum distillation unit,

    • (iii) a hydrocracker unit,

    • (iv) a hydrotreater unit,

    • (v) a hydroprocessor unit, or

    • (vi) a coker; (bien désigné)

  eligible oil sands mine development expense

  frais d’aménagement admissibles relatifs à une mine de sables bitumineux

  eligible oil sands mine development expense, of a taxpayer, means an expense incurred by the taxpayer after March 21, 2011 and before 2016, the amount of which is determined by the formula

  A × B

  where

  A

  is an expense that would be a Canadian exploration expense of the taxpayer described in paragraph (g) of the definition Canadian exploration expense if that paragraph were read without reference to “other than a bituminous sands deposit or an oil shale deposit”, but does not include an expense that is a specified oil sands mine development expense, and

  B

  is

  • (a) 100% if the expense is incurred before 2013,

  • (b) 80% if the expense is incurred in 2013,

  • (c) 60% if the expense is incurred in 2014, and

  • (d) 30% if the expense is incurred in 2015; (frais d’aménagement admissibles relatifs à une mine de sables bitumineux)

  oil sands mine development project

  projet de mise en valeur d’une mine de sables bitumineux

  oil sands mine development project, of a taxpayer, means a bitumen mine development project or a bitumen upgrading development project of the taxpayer; (projet de mise en valeur d’une mine de sables bitumineux)

  preliminary work activity

  travaux préliminaires

  preliminary work activity, in respect of an oil sands mine development project, means activity that is preliminary to the acquisition, construction, fabrication or installation by or on behalf of a taxpayer of designated assets in respect of the taxpayer’s oil sands mine development project including, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the following activities:

  • (a) obtaining permits or regulatory approvals,

  • (b) performing design or engineering work,

  • (c) conducting feasibility studies,

  • (d) conducting environmental assessments, and

  • (e) entering into contracts; (travaux préliminaires)

  restricted expense

  frais spécifiés

  restricted expense of a taxpayer means an expense

  • (a) incurred by the taxpayer before April, 1987,

  • (b) that is deemed by paragraph 66(10.2)(c) to have been incurred by the taxpayer, or included by the taxpayer in the amount referred to in paragraph (a) of the definition Canadian development expense in subsection 66.2(5) by virtue of paragraph 66(12.3)(b), to the extent that the expense was originally incurred before April, 1987,

  • (c) that was renounced by the taxpayer under subsection 66(10.2), 66(12.601) or 66(12.62),

  • (d) in respect of which an amount referred to in subsection 66(12.3) becomes receivable by the taxpayer,

  • (e) deemed to be a Canadian exploration expense of the taxpayer or any other taxpayer by virtue of subsection 66.1(9), or

  • (f) where the taxpayer is a corporation, that was incurred by the corporation before the time control of the corporation was last acquired by a person or persons; (frais spécifiés)

  specified oil sands mine development expense

  frais d’aménagement déterminés relatifs à une mine de sables bitumineux

  specified oil sands mine development expense, of a taxpayer, means an expense that

  • (a) would be a Canadian exploration expense described in paragraph (g) of the definition Canadian exploration expense if that paragraph were read without reference to “other than a bituminous sands deposit or an oil shale deposit”,

  • (b) is incurred by the taxpayer after March 21, 2011 and before 2015, and

  • (c) is incurred by the taxpayer to achieve completion of a specified oil sands mine development project of the taxpayer; (frais d’aménagement déterminés relatifs à une mine de sables bitumineux)

  specified oil sands mine development project

  projet déterminé de mise en valeur d’une mine de sables bitumineux

  specified oil sands mine development project, of a taxpayer, means an oil sands mine development project (not including any preliminary work activity) in respect of which

  • (a) one or more designated assets was, before March 22, 2011,

    • (i) acquired by the taxpayer, or

    • (ii) in the process of being constructed, fabricated or installed, by or on behalf of the taxpayer, and

  • (b) the planned level of average daily output (where that output is bitumen or a similar product in the case of a bitumen mine development project, or synthetic crude oil or a similar product in the case of a bitumen upgrading development project) that can reasonably be expected, is the lesser of

    • (i) the level that was the demonstrated intention of the taxpayer as of March 21, 2011 to produce from the oil sands mine development project, and

    • (ii) the maximum level of output associated with the design capacity, as of March 21, 2011, of the designated asset referred to in paragraph (a); (projet déterminé de mise en valeur d’une mine de sables bitumineux)

  specified purpose

  fin admise

  specified purpose means

  • (a) the operation of an oil or gas well for the sole purpose of testing the well or the well head and related equipment, in accordance with generally accepted engineering practices,

  • (b) the burning of natural gas and related hydrocarbons to protect the environment, and

  • (c) prescribed purposes. (fin admise)

• Marginal note:Application of ss. 66(15), 66.2(5) and 66.4(5)

  (6.1) The definitions in subsections 66(15), 66.2(5) and 66.4(5) apply to this section.

• Marginal note:Deductible expense

  (6.2) An expense of a taxpayer that is not included in paragraph (f) or (g) of the definition Canadian exploration expense in subsection (6) because the taxpayer earned revenue from a mine in a mineral resource is deemed, for the purposes of this Part, not to be an outlay or payment described in paragraph 18(1)(b).

• Marginal note:Share of partner

  (7) Where a taxpayer is a member of a partnership, the taxpayer’s share of any amount that would be an amount referred to in the description of E, G or J in the definition cumulative Canadian exploration expense in subsection 66.1(6) in respect of the partnership for a taxation year of the partnership if section 96 were read without reference to paragraph 96(1)(d) shall, for the purposes of this Act, be deemed to be an amount referred to in the description of E, G or J, as the case may be, in that definition in respect of the taxpayer for the taxation year of the taxpayer in which the partnership’s taxation year ends.

• (8) [Repealed, 1997, c. 25, s. 14(6)]

• Marginal note:Canadian development expenses for preceding years

  (9) Where at any time in a taxpayer’s taxation year

  • (a) the drilling or completing of an oil or gas well resulted in the discovery that a natural underground reservoir contains petroleum or natural gas and, before the time of the discovery, no person or partnership had discovered that the reservoir contained either petroleum or natural gas,

  • (b) the period of 24 months commencing on the day of completion of the drilling of an oil or gas well ends and the well has not, within that period, produced otherwise than for specified purposes, or

  • (c) an oil or gas well that has never produced, otherwise than for specified purposes, is abandoned,

  the amount, if any, by which the total of

  • (d) all Canadian development expenses (other than restricted expenses) described in subparagraph (a)(ii) of the definition Canadian development expense in subsection 66.2(5) in respect of the well that are deemed by subsection 66(10.2) or 66(12.63) to have been incurred by the taxpayer in the year or a preceding taxation year,

  • (e) all Canadian development Canadian development expenses (other than restricted expenses) described in subparagraph (a)(ii) of the definition Canadian development expense in subsection 66.2(5) in respect of the well that are required by paragraph 66(12.3)(b) to be included by the taxpayer in the amount referred to in paragraph (a) of that definition for the year or a preceding taxation year, and

  • (f) all Canadian development expenses (other than expenses referred to in paragraph 66.1(9)(d) or 66.1(9)(e) and restricted expenses) described in subparagraph (a)(ii) of the definition Canadian development expense in subsection 66.2(5) incurred by the taxpayer in respect of the well in a taxation year preceding the year,

  exceeds

  • (g) any assistance that the taxpayer or a partnership of which the taxpayer is a member has received or is entitled to receive in respect of the expenses referred to in any of paragraphs 66.1(9)(d) to 66.1(9)(f),

  shall, for the purposes of this Act, be deemed to be a Canadian exploration expense referred to in paragraph (e) of the definition Canadian exploration expense in subsection 66.1(6) incurred by the taxpayer at that time.

• Marginal note:Certificate ceasing to be valid

  (10) A certificate in respect of an oil or gas well issued by the Minister of Natural Resources for the purposes of subparagraph (d)(iv) of the definition Canadian exploration expense in subsection 66.1(6) shall be deemed never to have been issued and never to have been filed with the Minister where

  • (a) the well produces, otherwise than for a specified purpose, within the period of 24 months commencing on the day on which the drilling of the well was completed; or

  • (b) in applying for the certificate, the applicant, in any material respect, provided any incorrect information or failed to provide information.