Higher education R&D outlays continue to increase: StatsCan

Mark Henderson
November 11, 2020

Healthy increases in higher education research and development (R&D) continued for a ninth straight year in FY18-19, jumping 5.2% year-over-year to $15.1 billion, according to the latest data from Statistics Canada.

All sources of funding – both internal and external – reported higher levels of support, bolstering Canada’s higher education status in contributing a greater portion of Canada’s total R&D than any other G7 nation. It also accounts for approximately 40% of Canada’s total R&D spending.

Internal university funding sources accounted for $7.4 billion or nearly half of the total, up 4.4% over FY17-18, followed by the federal government which boosted its support 7.7% to $3.6 billion.

Provincial governments provided $1.2 billion while the business sector contributed an equal amount.  Private not-for-profit organizations provided $1.5 billion while foreign sources amount to $137 million.

Unsurprisingly, Ontario and Quebec accounted for 65% of all higher education R&D expenditures, boosting their totals by $198.4 million and $196.7 million respectively. All other provinces had increases with the exceptions of Manitoba and Nova Scotia.

Natural sciences continue to dominate R&D outlays in the higher education sector, accounting for $11.5 billion or 65.9% of total expenditures. The social sciences and humanities account for the remainder ($3.6 billion/24.1%).

Higher education R&D funding sectors over time

($ millions, current dollars)

  Higher education Federal government Provincial government Business enterprise Private non-profit Foreign
2009/10 4,824 2,933 1,144 892 901 120
2010/11 4,970 3,074 1,193 842 1,029 141
2011/12 5,193 3,165 1,255 966 1,127 126
2012/13 6,085 3,212 1,301 952 1,079 128
2013/14 6,320 3,109 1,182 914 1,138 139
2014/15 6,394 3,020 1,138 998  1,235 108
2015/16 6,657 3,028 1,096 1,041 1,309 114
2016/17 6,815 3,170 1,154 1,094 1,467 111
2017/18 7,106 3,331 1,163 1,125 1,495 119
2018/19 7,421 3,587 1,222 1,205 1,516 137

Source: Statistics Canada

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