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Source verified August 3, 2026
Ontario Book Publishing Tax Credit (OBPTC)
Refundable tax credit for Ontario publishers
Latest source updateLast Update: June 28, 2026Latest change: The OBPTC legislation now shows a new section link and updated tax-credit note for later years, while the guidelines received only minor wording cleanup.View change
Latest source update
Last Update: June 28, 2026
Latest change: The OBPTC legislation now shows a new section link and updated tax-credit note for later years, while the guidelines received only minor wording cleanup.
OBPTC legal text updated
The OBPTC legal reference on Ontario.ca now shows a new section link, 151.1, and Section 19.1 includes a new 2026 note with amended tax-credit rates for later years. This points to a real legal update affecting the credit’s terms, while the OBPTC Guidelines only show minor wording and formatting cleanup in Section 3.01 without visible changes to eligibility, contacts, or submission steps.
Funding available
$ 30,000
Deadline
Open continuously
Location
Ontario, Canada
Overview
The Ontario Book Publishing Tax Credit (OBPTC) is a refundable tax credit for qualifying Ontario book publishing corporations. It is calculated at 30% of eligible Ontario expenditures, up to $30,000 per book title, and covers pre-press, printing, marketing, and digital or electronic publishing work.
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Opportunity Score
Moderate potential, but conditions must align.
At a glance
Funding available
Financing goals
- Increase performance through digital transformation
- Increase production or service capacity
- Develop a new product or service
Eligible Funding
- Maximum amount : 30,000 $
- Up to 30% of project cost
Funds Providers
Eligible candidates
Eligible Industries
- All industries
Location
- Ontario
Legal structures
- For-profit business
Annual revenue
- All revenue ranges
Organisation size
- All organization sizes
Audience
- Canadians
Next Steps
1
Determine your project
2
Validate your eligibility
Activities funded
- Pre-press activities for an eligible literary work
- Printing, assembling and binding of a literary work
- Preparing a literary work for publication in one or more digital or electronic formats
- Marketing copies of the published literary work
Documents Needed
- T2 Corporation Income Tax return
- completed Schedule 564 (T2SCH564) for each literary work
- Ontario Creates certificate of eligibility (or copy) for each literary work
Official resources
Program guide
Application form
Eligibility
Who is eligible?
- Qualifying corporations
- Canadian-controlled corporations
- Book publishing companies
- Corporations that carry out their business primarily through a permanent establishment of the corporation in Ontario
- Corporations that file an Ontario corporate tax return
Eligible expenses
- Pre-press costs, including non-refundable monetary advances to the eligible Canadian author and salaries or wages paid to employees involved in editing, design and project management
- Amounts in respect of activities that reasonably relate to the publishing of the literary work, if those activities are carried out primarily in Ontario, including fees for freelance editing, design and research, and the cost of art work, developing prototypes, set-up and typesetting
- Activities that reasonably relate to preparing a literary work for publication in one or more digital or electronic formats, if those activities are carried out primarily in Ontario, including scanning, editing, formatting, indexing, encryption and establishing digital rights management or other technological protection measures
- One-half of the expenditures incurred for the printing, assembling and binding of the literary work, and one-half of the expenditures that reasonably relate to transferring a prepared digital or electronic version of the literary work into or onto a form suitable for distribution, if those activities are carried out primarily in Ontario
- Expenditures that reasonably relate to the marketing of copies of the published literary work, including promotional tours by the eligible Canadian author, salaries or wages paid to employees engaged in marketing copies, and amounts expended in respect of promoting and marketing copies of the published literary work
Ineligible Costs and Activities
- Publishing the literary work on consignment or at the expense of another person
- Having the author, a related person, or a person related to the subject of the literary work directly or indirectly fund or guarantee any part of the cost of publishing or marketing the literary work
- Publishing the literary work other than as a bound hardback, paperback or trade paperback book or as a digital or electronic version of the literary work
- Publishing the literary work in an edition of less than 500 copies of a bound book if it is published in a year before 2020, or publishing a work that is not assigned an ISBN or not offered for sale through an established distributor
- Translations of previously published literary works and other ineligible publications, including calendars, agendas, almanacs, colouring books, comics, instructional books or manuals, publications primarily containing maps, publications used primarily as learning material, reference books, musical notation, publications with unknown authorship, typewritten, individually photocopied, mimeographed or handwritten pages, publications capable of inciting hatred, publications whose dominant characteristic is the undue exploitation of sex or of sex and one or more of crime, horror, cruelty or violence, and publications for which public financial support would be contrary to public policy
Eligible geographic areas
- Ontario
How to apply
- Apply to Ontario Creates for a Certificate of Eligibility.
- File the certificate with the Canada Revenue Agency together with the tax return to claim the OBPTC.
Processing and Agreement
- The CRA will not process a claim until it is complete.
- A claim is considered complete when a T2 Corporation Income Tax return, a completed Schedule 564 (T2SCH564) for each literary work, and an Ontario Creates certificate of eligibility or copy for each literary work are filed with the CRA.
- If an issue of ineligibility arises during review, the Business Officer will communicate with the Applicant, explain the issue, ask further questions and request additional documentation if required.
- The Applicant will be given the opportunity to provide additional information or documentation to support their position for any issue in dispute.
- If the issue remains unresolved, Ontario Creates may recommend withdrawal from review; if the product or production is not withdrawn, Ontario Creates will issue a Letter of Ineligibility, the Applicant cannot resubmit that product or production for a tax credit, and CRA is notified.
Additional information
- The OBPTC is jointly administered by Ontario Creates and the Canada Revenue Agency.
- The OBPTC Legislation and Regulation take precedence over any provision of these Guidelines.
Contacts
Frequently Asked Questions about the Ontario Book Publishing Tax Credit (OBPTC) Program
What is the Ontario Book Publishing Tax Credit (OBPTC)?
The Ontario Book Publishing Tax Credit (OBPTC) is a refundable tax credit for qualifying Ontario book publishing corporations. It is calculated at 30% of eligible Ontario expenditures, up to $30,000 per book title, and covers pre-press, printing, marketing, and digital or electronic publishing work.
How much funding can be received?
Ontario Book Publishing Tax Credit (OBPTC) Funds up to 30% of admissible expenses, capped at $30,000 per project.
Who is eligible for the Ontario Book Publishing Tax Credit (OBPTC) program?
To be eligible for the Ontario Book Publishing Tax Credit (OBPTC) program, you must:
Canadian-controlled corporation
Book publishing business carried on primarily through a permanent establishment in Ontario
Ontario corporate tax filer with more than 50% of taxable income allocated to Ontario and at least two books published in the previous year, unless the company has transferred its business, amalgamated or wound up
What expenses are eligible under Ontario Book Publishing Tax Credit (OBPTC)?
Pre-press activities for an eligible literary work
Printing, assembling and binding of a literary work
Preparing a literary work for publication in one or more digital or electronic formats
Marketing copies of the published literary work
Who can I contact for more information about the Ontario Book Publishing Tax Credit (OBPTC)?
You can contact Ontario Creates by email at taxcredits@ontariocreates.ca or by phone at 416-642-6659.
Where is the Ontario Book Publishing Tax Credit (OBPTC) available?
The Ontario Book Publishing Tax Credit (OBPTC) program is available the province of Ontario.
Is the Ontario Book Publishing Tax Credit (OBPTC) a grant, loan, or tax credit?
Ontario Book Publishing Tax Credit (OBPTC) is a Tax Credits