Spending on research and development in the higher education sector
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The higher education sector, comprised of universities and affiliated research hospitals, experimental stations and clinics, spent $11.0 billion on research and development (R&D) in 2009/2010, up 0.8% from 2008/2009. Higher education expenditures on R&D normally account for more than one-third of Canada's gross domestic expenditures on R&D.
Spending on higher education R&D in the natural sciences and engineering rose 0.6% to $8.8 billion. In the social sciences and humanities, higher education R&D spending increased 1.6% to $2.2 billion.
In 2009/2010, two-thirds of R&D spending in the higher education sector took place in Ontario and Quebec. These two provinces are generally recognized to have the highest concentration of universities, research hospitals, experimental stations and clinics.
There are six sources of funding for R&D spending in the higher education sector, including the federal government, provincial governments, business enterprises, private non-profit organizations, foreign sources, as well as the higher education institutions themselves. Higher education institutions continued to be the leading source of funding for their R&D performance.
The higher education sector provided $5.1 billion in self-funding for R&D, up 1.3% over 2008/2009. The higher education sector accounted for 46% of total funding in 2009/2010.
The federal government remained the second largest funding source for higher education R&D, providing $2.9 billion, a 2.7% increase from a year earlier. This represented 26% of total funding.
Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number 5109.
The service bulletin Science Statistics: Estimates of Research and Development Expenditures in the Higher Education Sector, Vol. 35, no. 3 (88-001-X, free), is now available from the Key resource module of our website under Publications.
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Louise Earl (613-951-2880; louise.earl@statcan.gc.ca) or Cindy Carter (613-951-1856; cindy.carter@statcan.gc.ca), Business Special Surveys and Technology Statistics Division.
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