Annual Survey of Research and Development Expenditures and Personnel in Canadian Higher Education Sector Organizations

Reporting Guide

This guide is designed to assist you as you complete the Annual Survey of Research and Development Expenditures and Personnel in Canadian Higher Education Sector Organizations. If you need more information, please call the Statistics Canada Help Line at the number below.

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Your answers are confidential.

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Statistics Canada will use information from this survey for statistical purposes.

Note:

1. If this organization performs in-house research and development (R&D) and outsources R&D, complete all questions.
2. If this organization performs in-house R&D and does not outsource R&D, complete questions 1-5, 8-26.
3. If this organization outsources R&D and does not perform in-house R&D, complete questions 1-3, 5-7, 17, 18 & 23-26.
4. If this organization does not perform in-house R&D and does not outsource R&D, complete questions 1-3, 5, 17, 18, 23, 24 & 26.

For this survey

• 'In-house R&D' refers to
  • Expenditures within Canada for R&D performed within this organization by:
    • employees (permanent, temporary or casual)
    • self-employed individuals or contractors who are working on-site on this organization's R&D projects
• 'Outsourced R&D' refers to
  • Payments made within or outside Canada to other companies, organizations or individuals to fund R&D performance:
    • grants
    • fellowships
    • contracts

Reporting period information

For this survey, this organization's fiscal year end date should fall on or before August 31 of the Questionnaire's reporting period.

Definitions and Concepts

Research and experimental development (R&D) comprise creative and systematic work undertaken in order to increase the stock of knowledge – including knowledge of humankind, culture and society – and to devise new applications of available knowledge.

R&D is performed in the natural sciences, engineering, social sciences and humanities. There are three types of R&D activities: basic research, applied research and experimental development.

Activities included and excluded from R&D

Inclusions

Prototypes

Include design, construction and operation of prototypes, provided that the primary objective is to make further improvements or to undertake technical testing. Exclude if the prototype is for commercial purposes.

Clinical Trials

Include clinical trial phases 1, 2, and 3. Include clinical trial phase 4 only if it brings about a further scientific or technological advance.

New computer software or significant improvements/modifications to existing computer software

Includes technological or scientific advances in theoretical computer sciences; operating systems e.g., improvement in interface management, developing new operating system or converting an existing operating system to a significantly different hardware environment, programming languages, and applications if a significant technological change occurs.

Contracts

Include all contracts which require R&D. For contracts which include other work, report only the R&D costs.

Research work in the social sciences

Include if projects are employing new or significantly different modelling techniques or developing new formulae, analyzing data not previously available or applying new research techniques, development of community strategies for disease prevention, analysis of the effectiveness of health interventions, or health education.

Exclude:

• routine analytical projects using standard techniques and existing data
• routine market research
• routine statistical analysis intended for on-going monitoring of an activity

Exclusions

Routine analysis in the social sciences including policy-related studies, management studies and efficiency studies

Exclude analytical projects of a routine nature, with established methodologies, principles and models of the related social sciences to bear on a particular problem (e.g., commentary on the probable economic effects of a change in the tax structure, using existing economic data; use of standard techniques in applied psychology to select and classify industrial and military personnel, students, etc., and to test children with reading or other disabilities).

Consumer surveys, advertising, market research

Exclude projects of a routine nature, with established methodologies intended for commercialization of the results of R&D.

Routine quality control and testing

Exclude projects of a routine nature, with established methodologies not intended to create new knowledge, even if carried out by personnel normally engaged in R&D.

Engineering

Exclude engineering unless it is in direct support of R&D.

Design and drawing

Exclude design and drawing unless it is in direct support of R&D.

Patent and license work

Exclude all administrative and legal work connected with patents and licenses.

Cosmetic modifications or style changes to existing products

Exclude if no significant technical improvement or modification to the existing products has occurred.

General purpose or routine data collection

Exclude projects of a routine nature, with established methodologies intended for on-going monitoring of an activity.

Routine computer programming, systems maintenance or software application

Exclude projects of a routine nature, with established methodologies intended to support on-going operations.

Routine mathematical or statistical analysis or operations analysis

Exclude projects of a routine nature, with established methodologies intended for on-going monitoring of an activity.

Activities associated with standards compliance

Exclude projects of a routine nature, with established methodologies intended to support standards compliance.

Specialized routine medical care such as routine pathology services

Exclude projects of a routine nature, with established methodologies intended for on-going monitoring of an activity where results do not further scientific, technological advance, or understanding of the effectiveness of a technology.

In-house R&D expenditures within Canada (Q4 – Q11)

In-house R&D expenditures are composed of current in-house R&D expenditures and capital in-house R&D expenditures.

Current in-house R&D expenditures

Include:

• wages, salaries, benefits and fringe benefits, materials and supplies
• services to support R&D, including on-site R&D consultants and contactors
• necessary background literature
• minor scientific equipment
• associated administrative and overhead costs

1. Wages, salaries of permanent, temporary and casual R&D employees

Include benefits and fringe benefits of employees engaged in R&D activities. Benefits and fringe benefits include bonus payments, holiday or vacation pay, pension fund contributions, other social security payments, payroll taxes, etc.

2. Services to support R&D

Include:

• payments to on-site R&D consultants and contractors working under the direct control of your organization
• other services including indirect services purchased to support in-house R&D such as security, storage, repair, maintenance and use of buildings and equipment
• computer services, software licensing fees and dissemination of R&D findings

3. R&D materials

Include:

• water, fuel, gas and electricity
• materials for creation of prototypes
• reference materials (books, journals, etc.)
• subscriptions to libraries and data bases, memberships to scientific societies, etc.
• cost of outsourced (contracted out or granted) small R&D prototypes or R&D models
• materials for laboratories (chemicals, animals, etc.)
• all other R&D-related materials

4. All other current R&D costs including overhead

Include administrative and overhead costs (e.g., office, lease/rent, post and telecommunications, internet, legal expenditures, insurance), prorated if necessary to allow for non-R&D activities within the organization

Exclude:

• interest charges
• value-added taxes (goods and services tax (GST) or harmonized sales tax (HST))

Capital in-house R&D expenditures

Capital in-house R&D expenditures are the annual gross amount paid for the acquisition of fixed assets that are used repeatedly, or continuously in the performance of R&D for more than one year. Report capital in-house R&D expenditures in full for the period when they occurred.

Include costs for software, land, buildings and structures, equipment, machinery and other capital costs.

Exclude capital depreciation.

5. Software

Include applications and systems software (original, customized and off-the-shelf software), supporting documentation and other software-related acquisitions.

6. Land acquired for R&D including testing grounds, sites for laboratories and pilot plants.
7. Buildings and structures that are constructed or purchased for R&D activities or that have undergone major improvements, modifications, renovations and repairs for R&D activities.
8. Equipment, machinery and all other capital

Include major equipment, machinery and instruments, including embedded software, acquired for R&D activities.

Outsourced (contracted out or granted) R&D expenditures (Q12 - Q16)

Include payments made through contracts, licenses, grants donations, endowments and fellowships to another company, university, hospital, consortia, organization or individual to purchase or fund R&D activities.

Exclude expenditures for on-site R&D contractors.

1. Companies include all incorporated for-profit businesses and government business enterprises providing products in the market at market rates.
2. Private non-profit organizations include voluntary health organizations, private philanthropic foundations, associations, consortia, accelerators, and societies and research institutes. They are not-for-profit organizations that serve the public interest by supporting activities related to public welfare (such as health, education, the environment).
3. Industrial research institutes or associations include all non-profit organizations that serve the business sector, with industrial associations frequently consisting of their membership.
4. Hospitals include establishments, licensed as hospitals, primarily engaged in providing diagnostic and medical treatment services, and specialized accommodation services to in-patients. These establishments have an organized medical staff of physicians, nurses and other health professionals, technologists and technicians. Hospitals use specialized facilities and equipment that form a significant and integral part of the production process. Hospitals may also provide a wide variety of out-patient services as a secondary activity.
5. Universities include hospitals and clinics when they are affiliated with a university and provide education services or when R&D activity is under the direct control of a university.
6. Federal government includes all federal government departments and agencies. It excludes federal government organization enterprises providing products in the market.
7. Provincial or territorial governments include all provincial or territorial government ministries, departments and agencies. It excludes provincial or territorial government organization enterprises providing products in the market.
8. Provincial or territorial research organizations are organizations created under provincial or territorial law which conduct or facilitate research on behalf of the province or territory.
9. Other organizations – individuals, non-university educational organizations, for profit accelerators and incubators, foreign governments including ministries, departments and agencies of foreign governments.

Sources of funds for in-house R&D expenditures in 2018 (Q19-20)

Include Canadian and foreign sources.

Exclude:

• payments for outsourced (contracted out or granted) R&D, which should be reported in question 13
• capital depreciation

1. Funds from this organization
   Amount contributed by this organization to R&D performed within Canada. Include interest payments, fundraising and other income.
2. Companies
   Funds received from incorporated for-profit organizations and government organization enterprises providing products in the market at market rates
3. Federal government grants or funding
   Funds received from the federal government in support of R&D activities not connected to a specific contractual deliverable.
4. Federal government contracts
   Funds received from the federal government in support of R&D activities connected to a specific contractual deliverable.

Geographic distribution of provincial or territorial government funds from grants and contracts

5. Newfoundland and Labrador
6. Prince Edward Island
7. Nova Scotia
8. New Brunswick.
9. Quebec
10. Ontario
11. Manitoba
12. Saskatchewan
13. Alberta
14. British Columbia
15. Yukon
16. Northwest Territories
17. Nunavut

In-house R&D expenditures by fields of research and development in 2018 (Q21)

Exclude:

• payments for outsourced (contracted out or granted) R&D, which should be reported in question 13
• capital depreciation

Medical and health sciences

Basic medicine, clinical medicine, health sciences, medical biotechnology, other medical sciences.

1. Basic medicine: anatomy and morphology (plant science under Biological science), human genetics, immunology, neurosciences, pharmacology and pharmacy and medicinal chemistry, toxicology, physiology and cytology, pathology.
2. Clinical medicine: andrology, obstetrics and gynaecology, paediatrics, cardiac and cardiovascular systems, haematology, anaesthesiology, orthopaedics, radiology and nuclear medicine, dentistry, oral surgery and medicine, dermatology, venereal diseases and allergy, rheumatology, endocrinology and metabolism and gastroenterology, urology and nephrology, and oncology.
3. Health sciences: health care sciences and nursing, nutrition and dietetics, parasitology, infectious diseases and epidemiology, occupational health.
4. Medical biotechnology: health-related biotechnology, technologies involving the manipulation of cells, tissues, organs or the whole organism, technologies involving identifying the functioning of DNA, proteins and enzymes, pharmacogenomics, gene-based therapeutics, biomaterials (related to medical implants, devices, sensors).
5. Other medical sciences: forensic science, other medical sciences.

Other fields of research and development

6. Natural and formal sciences: mathematics, physical sciences, chemical sciences, earth and related environmental sciences, biological sciences and other natural sciences.

Exclude computer sciences, information sciences and bioinformatics

7. Engineering and technology: civil engineering, electrical engineering, electronic engineering and communications technology, mechanical engineering, chemical engineering, materials engineering, medical engineering, environmental engineering, environmental biotechnology, industrial biotechnology, nanotechnology, other engineering and technologies.

Exclude software engineering and technology

8. Software-related sciences and technologies: software engineering and technology, computer sciences, information technology and bioinformatics.
9. Agricultural sciences: agriculture, forestry and fisheries sciences, animal and dairy sciences, veterinary sciences, agricultural biotechnology, other agricultural sciences.
10. Social sciences and humanities: Psychology, educational sciences, economics and business, other social sciences, humanities.

In-house R&D personnel in 2018 (Q24 – Q26)

Include:

• permanent, temporary and casual R&D employees
• independent on-site R&D consultants and contractors working in your organization's offices, laboratories, or other facilities
• employees engaged in R&D-related support activities

Researchers and research managers are composed of:

1. Scientists, social scientists, engineers and researchers are professionals engaged in the conception or creation of new knowledge. They conduct research and improve or develop concepts, theories, models, techniques instrumentation, software or operational methods. They may be certified by provincial or territorial educational authorities, provincial, territorial or national scientific or engineering associations.
2. Senior research managers plan or manage R&D projects and programs. They may be certified by provincial or territorial educational authorities, provincial, territorial or national scientific or engineering associations.

R&D technical, administrative and support staff are composed of:

3. Technicians and technologists and research assistants are persons whose main tasks require technical knowledge and experience in one or more fields of engineering, the physical and life sciences, or the social sciences, humanities and the arts. They participate in R&D by performing scientific and technical tasks involving the application of concepts, operational methods and the use of research equipment, normally under the supervision of researchers. They may be certified by provincial or territorial educational authorities, provincial, territorial or national scientific or engineering associations.
4. Other R&D technical, administrative support staff include skilled and unskilled craftsmen, and administrative, secretarial and clerical staff participating in R&D projects or directly associated with such projects.

On-site R&D consultants and contractors are individuals hired 1) to perform project-based work or to provide goods at a fixed or ascertained price or within a certain time or 2) to provide advice or services in a specialized field for a fee and, in both cases, work at the location specified and controlled by the contracting company or organization.

Full-time equivalent (FTE)

R&D may be carried out by persons who work solely on R&D projects or by persons who devote only part of their time to R&D, and the balance to other activities such as testing, quality control and production engineering. To arrive at the total effort devoted to R&D in terms of personnel, it is necessary to estimate the full-time equivalent of these persons working only part-time in R&D.

Full-time equivalent (FTE) = Number of persons who work solely on R&D projects + the time of persons working only part of their time on R&D.

Example calculation: If out of four scientists engaged in R&D work, one works solely on R&D projects and the remaining three devote only one quarter of their working time to R&D, then: FTE = 1 + 1/4 + 1/4 + 1/4 = 1.75 scientists.

Technology and technical assistant payments in 2018 (Q27 – Q29)

Definitions (equivalent to the Canadian Intellectual Property Office)

1. Patent
   Government grant giving the right to exclude others from making, using or selling an invention.
2. Copyright
   Legal protection for literary, artistic, dramatic or musical works, computer programs, performer's performances, sound recordings, and communication signals.
3. Trademark
   A word, symbol or design, or combination of these, used to distinguish goods or services of one person or organization from those of others in the marketplace.
4. Industrial design
   Legal protection against imitation of the shape, pattern, or ornamentation of an object.
5. Integrated circuit topography
   Three-dimensional configurations of the elements and interconnections embodied in an integrated circuit product.
6. Original software
   Computer programs and descriptive materials for both systems and applications. Original software can be created in-house or outsourced and includes packaged software with customization.
7. Packaged or off-the-shelf software
   Packaged software purchased for organizational use and excludes software with customization.
8. Databases
   Data files organized to permit effective access and use of the data including access clinical trial registries and administrative health data for research purposes. Includes partnerships supporting the development of databases, such as patient or clinical trial registries or biobanks, to be used for research purposes (e.g., developing a national bladder cancer patient registry with Bladder Cancer Canada for future research).

• Other
  Technical assistance, industrial processes and know-how including technology transfer and know how such as batch pilot production, method develop, and validation related to technology or manufacturing transfer.