Patent boxes are a way governments can encourage innovation by providing a tax incentive for income earned from intellectual property. For example, a business that researches and develops scientific advancements in medicine might want their facility to be in B.C. if there is a tax incentive (patent box) for their work.
The Province is engaging with interested and affected parties to explore whether adopting a patent box could support the growth of B.C.’s life sciences sector, and whether the tax system can help encourage the commercialization of intellectual property in the province.
“Life sciences” refers to fields that involve the scientific study of living organisms. British Columbia’s life sciences sector includes contract research firms, testing and medical labs, and companies that develop, produce or sell medical devices, diagnostics, pharmaceuticals, and other medicinal substances or compounds.
Organizations and professionals in the life sciences sector can also provide a written submission in response to the discussion paper (PDF, 200KB) to BCPatentBox@gov.bc.ca.
About this survey
The province is seeking feedback from those who have an interest in the life sciences sector on areas regarding the competitiveness and effectiveness of a patent box regime in B.C., the design and administration.
The survey will be closed for feedback on June 24, 2026 at 4:00 pm.
Please note: This online feedback form supports all newer comparable browsers like Firefox, Chrome, Opera, Microsoft Edge, etc. with activated JavaScript. Your browser settings must have cookies enabled for the questionnaire to run properly and inactivity on the questionnaire for longer than one hour will result in the questionnaire timing out.
Collection Notice: Your personal information will be collected for the purposes of informing the B.C. Patent Box for the Life Sciences Sector engagement. If you have any questions about the collection of this personal information, please contact: Director, Citizen Engagement, citizenengagement@gov.bc.ca. This information is being collected by the Ministry of Citizens' Services on behalf of the Ministry of Finance under the authority of section 26(c) and 26(e) of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (“FOIPPA”).
