Rate of growth in university research income suffers significant decline

Quebec institutions take major hit

The party appears to be winding down for university research funding. After several years of double digit increases, sponsored research income increased a relatively modest 3.2% in FY05 to $5.2 billion. The latest data applies to the final year the Liberal government was in power, and uncertainty remains over what level the Conservative administration plans to maintain funding support.

On a province-by-province basis, the slow-down in university research funding is most pronounced in Quebec, which suffered a 12.6% drop in support, the only province to experience an actual decline. Funding shrank at eight of its 13 universities, with McGill Univ, Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS) and Laval Univ absorbing the largest declines - 22.2%, 20.7% and 17.4% respectively. The decline at McGill ranks as the worst in the country and follows a 58.6% increase in FY04.

The picture is far rosier in Ontario, where 17 institutions received 12.3% more funding than FY04. McMaster Univ experienced explosive funding growth of 40%, vaulting the Hamilton-based institution to 6th place overall with a total of $345 million. The Univ of Ottawa also had a banner year, jumping 25.2% for $238.4 million to capture 8th spot. Perennial top-ranked Univ of Toronto also enjoyed a healthy 13.6% increase, pushing its total to $708.6 million.

When ranked by rate of growth, four Ontario-based universities topped the list: Lakehead Univ (87%), Wilfrid Laurier Univ (46%), McMaster Univ (40%) and Laurentian Univ (30.2%).

The province's universities captured 41% of the national total, up from 37% in FY04, while Quebec's national share dropped from 31% to 26%.

The data are contained in the latest version of the Canada's Top Research Universities report, scheduled for release next month. The report is published by Research infosource Inc, a subsidiary of The Impact Group and sister firm to RE$EARCH MONEY.

"You can't maintain double digit increases forever. There had to be a slowdown at some point," says Ron Freedman, Research Infosource CEO and co-publisher of RE$EARCH MONEY. "The feds and the provinces appear to be taking a breather to see what they're getting out of it ... It's certainly a wait-and-see period."

Determining the reasons behind the drop in funding for Quebec and the slow-down nationally is a complex and risky endeavour. One factor is the absence of a major funding competition by the Canada Foundation for Innovation in 2005. CFI typically holds a major competition every 18 to 24 months, driving down the sponsored research income total in the years when there are no awards. Fluctuations in support from other federal and provincial funding sources can also cause swings in year-over-year income.

A more potent factor for Quebec is the change in that province's approach to innovation. Since the election of the Liberal government led by Jean Charest, many mechanisms underpinning Quebec's innovation system have been dramatically modified or removed. There have also been significant cuts to the provincial research granting agencies and Valorisation-Recherche Qu‚bec has been allowed to expire.

"We're starting to see a pattern in Quebec in funding and publications data. For publications data, many Quebec universities are performing poorly and now we're seeing that in income measures," says Freedman. "The head of steam that Quebec built up in the late 1990s has begun to dissipate and the innovation engine is in trouble. It comes down to leadership and policy."

In contrast, Ontario is implementing an ambitious innovation strategy, with ample funding and support for powerful commercialization engines like the MaRS Discovery District.

Alberta's three universities also enjoyed funding growth of nearly 10%, led by a 29% increase at the Univ of Lethbridge. A 10.2% increase in funding at the Univ of Alberta pushed that institution into 4th place overall, supplanting the Univ of British Columbia, which declined marginally by 1%. Overall BC's four institutions experienced a 2.4% increase, below the national average.

Manitoba has also increased its sponsored research income by nearly 16%, while all four provinces in Atlantic Canada made gains, led by Newfoundland (Memorial Univ) (22.2%), Nova Scotia (11.9%), New Brunswick (7.3%) and Prince Edward Island (3.2%).

The federal government provides 47% of all sponsored research income funding to universities, followed by the provinces (21%) and foreign governments (2%), Corporate sources contributed 13% of the total, as do non-corporate sources (individuals, not-for profit organizations and foundations), endowments (1%) and other (2%).

Another key finding in the data is the performance of smaller universities, with a rate of increase exceeding the average.

"It indicates that the major impact of higher education research policy has been on smaller institutions," says Freedman. "They've made some very strong gains."

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