Analysis

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Powered by the inflow of funds for science and technology (S&T) activities related to stimulus spending, federal expenditures on S&T in 2009/2010 increased by 9.8% on a current dollar basis, to $11.6 billion from the $10.6 billion reported in 2008/2009 (table 1-1).

Reflecting continued investment in S&T activities, forecast spending for 2010/2011 increased by 2.2% over 2009/2010 expenditures, reaching a record high of $11.9 billion. On the other hand, planned spending on S&T for 2011/2012 is forecast to decline by 2.9% to $11.3 billion, compared to 2009/2010, due to the intended winding down of the stimulus spending for S&T activities (table 1-1).

Data for 2011/2012 are planned expenditures by departments and are provisional and subject to change. Data for 2010/2011 are planned spending for the fiscal period that was almost closed at the time of data collection; these data are preliminary and subject to change. Data for 2009/2010 are actual expenditures incurred by the reporting departments and agencies, and, as such, are not subject to change.

Accounting for inflation, federal government S&T spending reached a high of $9.8 billion in 2009/2010 , an increase of 46.5% over the ten-year period from 1999/2000 to 2009/2010 (table 1-1).

Federal S&T expenditures are composed of two elements: research and development (R&D) and related scientific activities (RSA). Research and development is defined as "creative work, undertaken in a systematic manner to increase the stock of knowledge" (OECD, 2002). Related scientific activities include activities such as scientific data collection and information services, as well as administration of extramural RSA activities, all of which support R&D activities.

In 2009, the majority, $7.5 billion or 64%, of federal S&T spending was dedicated to R&D activities, while RSA accounted for the remainder (table 1-5).

S&T expenditures are available for two science types: natural sciences and engineering; and social sciences and humanities. Over three-quarters (76%) of all federal government S&T spending was directed to natural sciences and engineering and the rest was spent on social sciences and humanities in 2009/2010 (table 1-6).

S&T expenditures made within the federal government, such as salaries of scientific personnel and the materials and equipment required to support their activities, are known as intramural expenditures. S&T payments for research and development (R&D) and related scientific activities (RSA) made to other performing sectors such as higher education, the business sector, private non-profit organizations and foreign and other entities are known as extramural expenditures.

Intramural performance of science and technology (S&T) activities

In 2009/2010, about one-half ($5.8 billion) of the expenditures on S&T activities was performed by federal government departments and agencies. Over half (53%) of this expenditure was directed to RSA, with the remainder being spent on R&D (table 1-9).

Extramural funding of science and technology (S&T) activities

Over the past decade, the federal government began directing a higher proportion of its S&T expenditures to extramural performers. In 1998/1999, about $4 of every $10 of federal S&T expenditures were paid to extramural performers. By 2009/2010, this proportion had increased to about $5 (table 3-1).

Federal payments to extramural performers increased to $5.8 billion in 2009/2010, representing a noticeable increase (13.9%) from the $5.1 billion of extramural expenditures reported for 2008/2009 (table 3-1). This rise in extramural expenditures is related to the increased payments to provincial governments for S&T activities under the stimulus program.

In 2009/2010, as the leading beneficiary of the federal government's extramural S&T spending, the higher education sector received $3.1 billion in federal payments. Eighty nine percent of these funds were directed to R&D activities and the remaining 11% for RSA (table 3-1).

About $8 of every $10 in funding for extramural R&D activities originated from the three granting councils: Canadian Institutes of Health Research ($868 million), Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council ($818 million), and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council ($520 million) (table 3-3).

Based on the higher education research and development (HERD) expenditures to gross domestic product (GDP) ratio, in 2009, Canada ranked fourth (0.72) in the OECD, behind Denmark (0.9), Finland (0.75), and the Netherlands (0.73) (OECD, 2011).

Regions: Federal science and technology (S&T) investment up in most regions

In 2009/2010, in current dollars, federal expenditures on S&T in all provinces and territories except for Prince Edward Island showed increases from 2008/2009 spending levels. The National Capital Region (NCR) composed mainly of Ottawa, Ontario and Gatineau, Quebec also experienced an increase (table 5-1).

The largest dollar increases were in Ontario, the NCR and British Columbia. In Ontario (excluding the NCR), federal science expenditures increased by 17.4% to almost $3 billion (table 5-1). This is in large part due to increased federal intramural expenditures and increased payments to "other" ¹  performers.

In the NCR, federal science expenditures (includes only intramural expenditures) also increased by 4.0% to about $3.2 billion (table 5-1). In British Columbia, total S&T expenditures reached $920 million (the highest level to date) up by 26.0% due to increased federal payments to universities and other higher education institutions (table 5-1).

Federal science and technology (S&T) personnel

In 2009/2010, federal departments and agencies had a total of 38,968 full-time equivalent positions engaged in S&T activities. Of these positions, 17,896 were classified as scientific and professional, 9,577 as technical and 11,495 as other positions engaged in support activities (table 4-5).

Almost seven in 10 of all federal S&T personnel were engaged in S&T activities related to natural sciences and engineering with the remaining allocated to social sciences and humanities (table 4-1).

In 2009/2010, the majority of spending on federal S&T activities occurred in the NCR ($3.2 billion), the area generally recognized as having the highest concentration of federal government personnel (table 5-1). Of the total 38, 968 full time equivalent positions involved in S&T in 2009/2010, 22,289 (57.2%) were located in the NCR (table 4-8).

Objectives of research and development (R&D) activities

In terms of R&D funding, the three most important objectives for federal extramural spending in 2009/2010 were: protection and improvement of human health ($1.4 billion), non-oriented research ($990 million) and industrial production and technology ($843 million) (table 6-2).

The three most important socio-economic objectives that tend to be researched within government departments were: energy ($544 million), agriculture ($390 million) and protection and improvement of human health ($274 million) (table 6-2).