R&D expenditures in higher education creep upward after years of decline: StatsCan

Higher education spending in R&D rose 3.4% to $11.8 billion in FY15-16 from $11.4 billion in FY14-15, according to the latest data from Statistics Canada. This growth – as measured in constant 2007 dollars – indicates a change in direction after decreases of 1.1% and 1.2% in FY14-15 and FY13-14, respectively.

Prior to these latest data, the last period of growth – and a significant one – happened in FY12-13, when aggregate spending increased 6.5% to $11.7 billion. This was the highest growth rate in a five-year period starting in FY10-11, which registered a growth rate of 1.9% to reach $11.0 billion.

Federal support for R&D in higher education inched up only 0.3% to $3.03 billion in FY15-16 from $3.0 billion in FY2014-15 using current dollars.

All provinces increased R&D spending with Ontario taking the biggest share at 40% or $5.4 billion. Quebec posted the second largest contribution with a share of 25% or $3.4 billion. British Columbia and Alberta spent  $1.5 billion and $1.4 billion respectively, corresponding to about 10% each.

In terms of R&D funding sources, provincial governments collectively showed a decrease in funding for the third consecutive year, dropping to $1.1 billion. All other sectors registered increases.

The higher education sector accounted for $6.7 billion in funding, or slightly more than half of the aggregate R&D spending of $12.9 billion. This hefty share, StatsCan says, is not unprecedented because similar results in FY00-01 indicate that half of total higher education R&D spending came from the sector itself. The higher education sector includes universities and affiliated research hospitals, experimental stations and clinics.

In the past, the higher education sector had been known to provide the lion’s share of R&D spending. This follows the methodology used in Canada, which apportions the general university funds to the sector. These include funding instruments in the form of grants from various levels of governments.

StatsCan measures the R&D activities of two general types of research areas: natural sciences and engineering (NSE), and social sciences, humanities and the arts (SSH). In current dollars, spending in NSE again had the bigger share of overall R&D spending, accounting for 76% in FY15-16, up 2.6% to $10.1 billion from the previous year. However, spending for the SSH disciplines grew relatively faster,  increasing 3.2% to $3.2 billion.

In constant dollars, spending in NSE was $9 billion for FY15-16 while for the SSH, it was $2.8 billion. For both types of research, spending increased from FY14-15. StatsCan says spending in the social sciences have nearly doubled since the year 2000 (constant dollars).

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Source: Statistics Canada

Notes:

1. Natural sciences and engineering consist of disciplines concerned with understanding, exploring, developing or utilizing the natural world. Included are engineering, mathematical and physical sciences.

2. Social sciences, humanities and the arts embrace all disciplines involving the study of human actions and conditions and the social, economic and institutional mechanisms affecting humans. Included are such disciplines as anthropology, business administration and commerce, communications, criminology, demography, economics, geography, history, languages, literature and linguistics, law, library science, philosophy, political sciences, psychology, religious studies, social work, sociology, and urban and regional studies.

3. Current dollars are deflated by the gross domestic product implicit price index at market prices to produce 2007 constant dollars using CANSIM table 380-0102.