Analysis

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Estimates of research and development expenditures in thehigher education sector, 2009/2010

National spending on research and development performed by higher education institutions, which include universities, all affiliated research hospitals, experimental stations and clinics, was estimated at $11.0 billion in 2009/2010, a 0.8% increase from 2008/2009 (table 1).

Estimates of R&D expenditures in the higher education sector are allocated by two science types: natural sciences and engineering; and social sciences and humanities.

In 2009/2010, higher education sector spending on R&D in natural sciences and engineering increased 0.6% to $8.8 billion (table 6). In the social sciences and humanities, higher education R&D spending increased 1.6% to $2.2 billion (table 5).

Two-thirds of total R&D spending in the higher education sector occurred in Ontario (41%) and Quebec (25%) in 2009/2010. The remainder of total R&D expenditures in the higher education sector occurred in the Prairies (17%), British Columbia (11%), and the Atlantic Provinces (6%) (table 4).

Sources of funding by sector

There are six sectors that fund research and development expenditures in the higher education sector: higher education institutions; federal government; provincial government; business enterprise; private non-profit organizations; and, foreign.

Higher Education Sector

Higher education institutions remained the lead source of funding, contributing an estimated 46% of total higher education sector R&D expenditures in 2009/2010, or $5.1 billion, up 1.3% from the previous year (table 1).

Similar to total R&D spending, 67% of the higher education sector's funding of R&D occurred in Ontario and Quebec, as expected, since the majority of higher education institutions are located in these two provinces (table 3).

Federal Government Sector

The federal government remained the second largest funding sector of R&D performed in the higher education sector, providing an estimated $2.9 billion or 26% of total funding, an increase of 2.7% from 2008/2009 (table 1).

Two-thirds of higher education R&D spending funded by federal sources took place in Ontario and Quebec, followed by British Columbia (13%) and Alberta (9%) (table 3).

Provincial Government Sector

Provincial governments funded an estimated $1.0 billion, or 9.5% of the total spending on higher education research and development in 2009/2010, a decrease of 5.8% from the previous year (table 1).

The Ontario government accounted for 34% of total provincial R&D funding in the higher education sector, followed by the Quebec government at 24%. An additional one-third (35%) of provincial funding for R&D expenditures in the higher education sector was provided by the governments of Alberta (24%) and British Columbia (11%) (table 3).

Business Enterprise Sector

Estimates of funding from the business enterprise sector increased 4.1% to $929 million in 2009/2010, representing 8.4% of total R&D spending in the higher education sector (table 1).

Three-quarters of business enterprise funding occurred in higher education institutions in Ontario (48%) and Quebec (27%) (table 3).

Private Non-Profit Sector

In 2009/2010, private non-profit (PNP) organizations decreased their contributions to higher education R&D expenditures by an estimated 3.9% to $912 million, or 8.3% of total higher education sector R&D expenditures (table 1).

Forty-five percent of PNP funding of higher education R&D took place in Ontario, followed by Quebec (26%), British Columbia (12%) and Alberta (9%) (table 3).

Foreign Sector

Foreign sector funding of higher education R&D increased an estimated 5.5% to $121 million in 2009/2010. The foreign sector's share of funding for R&D in the higher education sector remained at 1% (table 1).

Half (51%) of foreign funding took place in Ontario higher education institutions, followed by Quebec (19%) and British Columbia (16%) (table 3).

Provincial research and development (R&D) spending

In 2009/2010, spending on R&D in the higher education sector increased in all Atlantic Provinces. R&D spending in the higher education sector rose 9.8% in Prince Edward Island, followed by New Brunswick at 5.5%, Newfoundland and Labrador at 5.3%, and Nova Scotia at 0.6% (table 4).

Alberta (5.7%), Manitoba (5.3%) and British Columbia (1.8%) also saw increased spending on R&D in the higher education sector in 2009/2010 from the previous year. Meanwhile, Ontario and Saskatchewan experienced declines of -0.5% and -1.1%, respectively (table 4).