Glory days of hefty increases in health R&D at an end suggest StatsCan data

Health R&D expenditures crept up an estimated 3.7% in 2007 but not enough to stop a gradual slide in outlays when measured in constant 2002 dollars. The increase also failed to prevent the health field's portion of overall Canadian R&D spending from dipping, according to preliminary data from Statistics Canada.

Health R&D expenditures from all sources were $6.3 billion in 2007, compared to $6.1 billion the previous year. But when measured in constant 2002 dollars, the 2007 figure drops to $5.4 billion, up slightly from 2006 but down from $5.6 billion in 2005. In 2004, health R&D accounted for 22.4% of $26.5 billion in gross expenditures on R&D (GERD), but that share dropped to $21.8% of $28.9 billion in 2007.

The data suggest that the massive build-up in health R&D in the 1990s and early 2000s has ended. Historical data show that total health R&D of $2.3 billion in 1996 increased to $5.2 billion by 2003 before exploding in 2004 to $5.9 billion — a 14.7% annual jump. Since then, increases have been marginal at best, accounting for the decline when measured in constant dollars.

higher education leads the way

The 2007 increase is largely due to increases in the higher education sector (up 4.6% to $4.1 billion) and to a lesser extent the business sector (up 2.7% to $1.9 billion. Foreign and provincial funding are largely stagnant private while non-profit funding continues to grow in importance. Between 2003 and 2007, it rose from $393 million to $521 million, an increase of 32.6%.

While the higher education total is at an all-time high, the business sector total has dropped from its high of $2.1 billion in 2005 to $1.9 billion.

As expected, Ontario and Quebec continue to be the preferred locales for higher education health R&D performance by all sectors. In 2005 — the latest year for which data are available — Ontario account for $1.7 billion or 46.2% of the $3.8 billion total, far ahead of Quebec which accounted for $973 million or 25.8%.

Alberta was the third most-preferred locale with $387.2 million (10.3%), followed by British Columbia with $319 million (8.5%), Nova Scotia at $112 million (3%) and Manitoba at $106.2 million (2.8%).

On a per capita (non-adjusted) basis, health R&D per capita continues to climb reaching $192 in 2007 when the population was pegged at 32.8 million. Per capita spending was $163 in 2003, $185 in 2004, $189 in 2005 and $186 in 2006.

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