Federal and provincial increases boost higher education R&D spending

Steep increases in funding from the federal and provincial governments helped boost R&D expenditures in the higher education sector 9.1% in FY03-04, compensating for marginal increases from the educational institutions and businesses and declines from foreign sources and the private non-profit sector.

The latest Statistics Canada data show that provincial funding exceeded $1 billion for the first time, jumping 22.9% from the previous year. Federal funding also surged more than 20% to nearly $2.2 billion (see chart below). The single largest source of higher education funding is from the universities themselves, but a relatively modest hike of 3.3% to $3.6 billion helped pull down the overall increase. Private non-profit sources of funding were relatively flat for the FY, while foreign sources plunged 24.5% to $75.8 million, coming after a two-year period which saw foreign sources more than double.

Every province except for Saskatchewan enjoyed an increase in funding, with the highest percentage increases occurring in Atlantic Canada. All four east-coast provinces registered double-digit increases, with the highest in Prince Edward Island, which jumped 25.7% from $18.7 million to $23.5 million. Newfoundland also experienced a dramatic increase, nudging out New Brunswick for the second-ranked province in the region with a 20.1% increase (see chart).

Perhaps the most telling increase in R&D spending in the higher education sector is in oil-rich Alberta, which jumped nearly $100 million to $826.8 million, moving past British Columbia into third place for the first time in history.

As always, Ontario and Quebec continue to dominate the higher education R&D landscape, accounting for $5.53 billion or 68% of the FY03-04 total, that compares to a 65.6% share they captured back in FY88-89.

The social sciences and humanities benefited the most in FY03-04, jumping 12.7% to $1.6 billion. The natural sciences and engineering were close behind with a 11.9% increase, to $3.45 billion, while the health sciences were up 4.4% to $3.1 billion.

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