Highlights

View the most recent version.

Archived Content

Information identified as archived is provided for reference, research or recordkeeping purposes. It is not subject to the Government of Canada Web Standards and has not been altered or updated since it was archived. Please "contact us" to request a format other than those available.

Archived

This page has been archived on the Web.

Spending on industrial research and development 2010 (intentions)

1. Businesses in Canada anticipated spending just over $15.6 billion on industrial research and development (R&D) in 2011, a 5.0% increase from 2010. In 2007 industrial R&D spending peaked at $16.8 billion, with a previous peak in 2001 of $14.3 billion (table 1).
2. Between 2010 and 2011, industrial R&D spending in the manufacturing sector is anticipated to increase by 8.0% from $7.1 billion in 2010 to $7.7 billion in 2011. For the services sector, an increase of 3.1% is anticipated, from $6.6 billion in 2010 to $6.8 billion in 2011 (table 5-1).
3. The established pattern of financing for industrial R&D continued in 2009, the most recent year for which data are available. R&D performers still finance the majority (79%) of their own industrial R&D. Industrial R&D performers received (13%) of their funding from foreign sources. Funds from the federal government accounted for 2% while the remainder came from other Canadian sources (table 5-8).
4. In 2011, about one-half of all industrial R&D performance was concentrated in the top 100 firms ranked by intramural R&D spending, down from around two thirds in the mid-1980s. In contrast, about one-half of the industrial R&D was performed by the top 25 firms in the mid-1980s; this concentration dropped to about 30% by 2006 where it has remained. This indicates that industrial R&D performance has dispersed across a greater number of performers over the past three decades. The drop-off in concentration in the top 100 R&D performing firms coincides with the decline of the information and communication technology industries (table 4).
5. R&D activities provided employment to 149,923 full-time equivalent (FTE) positions in 2009, the most recent year for which the R&D employment data are available. Professionals such as scientists, engineers and senior R&D administrators comprised 58% (or 86,964 FTE) of these highly qualified personnel (table 8-2).
6. Expenditures made for intellectual property in 2009 amounted to $435 million, of which patents represented 31% at $133 million. Payments received for intellectual property in 2009 amounted to $741 million and patents accounted for almost three quarters of the inflow of funds (table 12).
7. In 2009, Canadian firms performing R&D dedicated $1.3 billion to energy R&D with a particular emphasis on fossil fuels ($928 million). Within the fossil fuels, the leading expenditures on energy R&D were related to oil sands and heavy crude oil technologies for surface and sub-surface production and separation of bitumen and tailings management at $478 million with crude oils and natural gas exploration, production and storage following, at $388 million (table 13).

Note: Data for 2009 on employment in R&D activities, sources of funds for R&D, industrial R&D spending distributed by provinces, extramural R&D payments and technology payments and receipts are also available. Spending intentions for 2010 and 2011 are preliminary indications of the direction of R&D investments. Also available are data for 2009 from the Energy Research and Development Expenditures by Area of Technology survey.