Gross domestic expenditures on research and development

This release presents gross domestic expenditures on research and development (GERD) for 2023 (final data), preliminary data for 2024 and intentions data for 2025 at the national level. Provincial-level data are available only for 2023 and earlier years.

Data for GERD are available in current and constant dollars for both performing and funding sectors, by science type, province, territory and region, in table 27-10-0273-01. Current dollars are used in this release's analysis.

There are five GERD-performing sectors in Canada: business enterprise, private non-profit, higher education, federal government and provincial governments.

Research and development (R&D) funding comes from six sectors: the federal government, provincial governments, business enterprises, higher education, private non-profit organizations and the foreign sector.

GERD data presented in this release are performance-based and correspond to the sum of intramural R&D expenditures reported by performing sectors.

Funding sector data are derived from the source of funds indicated by the performing sectors. As a result, GERD-funding sector values will not equal funding data collected and released by individual sectors.

Provincial and territorial expenditures are assigned to the province or territory in which the performing organization is located. Provincial funding sector expenditures represent R&D funding distributed in a province or territory. The funds do not necessarily originate from within the province or territory.

Starting with reference year 2022, the series for the provincial research organizations sector are included in the provincial government estimates.

The business enterprise data source for the GERD program was redesigned in 2014, including concepts and methodology. Users should therefore exercise caution when comparing data with historical datasets. To learn more about these survey changes, see the Annual Survey of Research and Development in Canadian Industry page on the Statistics Canada website.

The data source for the higher education sector was modified to include revised time-use coefficients in 2012. Users should exercise caution when comparing data with historical datasets.

Data for the provincial government performing sector are currently modelled and based on results from the 2011 Provincial Scientific Activities Survey. However, this release includes data on R&D activities performed by the provincial government of Quebec, which conducted its own survey and provided the information to Statistics Canada. Provincial research organization data are collected through a Statistics Canada survey.

References

Main Science and Technology Indicators (MSTI Database). (2025). On this page, under "Related files," download the Excel Workbook and search for "GERD as a percentage of GDP" in the "List of tables" tab.