Federal S&T outlays set to decline 6% this year as stimulus spending expires

Guest Contributor
September 20, 2012

Departments and agencies hit hard

The new decade has not been kind to federal support for science and technology. Federal spending on S&T is projected to decline for the second year running, with a 5.9% forecast drop in FY12-13 to $10.9 billion — the lowest total outlay in the past five years. Related scientific activities (RSA) took the biggest hit, tumbling 8.6%, while R&D was down 4.3%, according to the latest data from Statistics Canada.

The end of stimulus funding and government actions to eliminate the annual deficit appear to be the two major drivers behind the decline which, when combined with the previous year's drop, shaved nearly $1.1 billion or 8.9% from federal expenditures from a high of $12 billion in FY10-11. Using constant 2002 dollars, FY10-11 marked an historic high for federal S&T outlays, reaching $9.8 billion, up 42.9% over the 10-year period beginning in FY00-01.

From a two-year perspective, however, R&D appears to be the biggest loser, registering a drop of $859 million or 11% to $7 billion since FY10-11. In comparison, RSA declined just 5% to $4 billion over the same period. Drilling down further, federally supported R&D spending by provinces and municipalities and intramural R&D expenditures are taking the brunt of the cuts. Spending by provinces and municipalities plummeted 84.7% over the past three years to just $26 million while federal intramural spending declined 17.7% from $3 billion in FY10-11 to $2.5 billion in FY12-13.

Business expenditures declined 5.5% over the same period to $915 million while higher education spending was flat, holding steady at $2.9 billion. (Contracts and research fellowships to higher education institutes add a further $367 million). Federal funding of foreign performers was the only category to register an increase, rising 5.8% to $197 million.

most departments experience declines

Across major departments and agencies, 14 of the 16 tracked by StatsCan registered declines. Only the Canada Foundation for Innovation and Health Canada received more in FY12-13. Overall, spending by the departments and agencies declined 7.2%, while spending categorized as "Other" dipped a mere 0.2%

The steepest cut was delivered to Statistics Canada itself, which suffered a 30% year-over-year drop (the department's S&T spending can vary from year-to-year depending on the volume of surveys in the field). Both the Canadian Space Agency and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada were compelled to absorb significant reductions (15% and 14.6% respectively), followed by Industry Canada (12.7%) and National Defence (10.7%). Cuts to the remaining departments and agencies ranged from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (1.6%) to Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd (8.5%).

Businesses received $1.2 billion in R&D and RSA in FY12-13. The major source for this support comes through grants and contributions ($706 million), primarily Industry Canada ($355 million), Natural Resources Canada ($214 million) and the National Research Council ($89 million). The leading source of contracts to industry was the Canadian Space Agency ($140 million) which was also the top source of scientific activities payments to business ($44 million).

Federal intramural R&D spending is closely aligned with government socio-economic objectives. Energy R&D was the single largest expenditure ($717 million, followed by agriculture ($360 million, protection and improvement of human health ($280 million) and defence ($276 million).

energy R&D soars

The importance of energy to the economy is reflected in the impressive increase in R&D spending, soaring from $214 million or 10% of all intramural expenditures in FY02-03 to $717 million in FY10-11 (the latest year for which data are available), or 25% of all intramural spending.

Not surprisingly, the number of federal scientific and professional personnel is set to decline in 2012-13 to 19,844, down 4.1% from 20,701 the previous year. The bulk of the reductions are in the area of related scientific activities, which dropped 5.1% to 11,861. R&D personnel declined 2.4% to 6,822 while personnel that administer extramural R&D programs dropped 3.2% to 842. Technical personnel also declined 2.3% to 7,977 while other personnel dropped 5.1% to 9,562. Taken together, all categories of S&T personnel totalled 37,382, down 4% from the previous year. At the departmental level, Statistics Canada suffered the greatest job losses, dropping nearly 1,100 people for a 16.7% reduction.

Of the $12 billion spent on S&T in 2010-11, the National Capital Region accounted for the single largest amount ($3.3 billion/intramural only), followed by Ontario ($3.2 billion), Quebec ($1.8 billion), British Columbia ($924 million), Alberta ($691 million), Manitoba ($355 million), Nova Scotia ($337 million), Saskatchewan ($248 million), New Brunswick ($131 million), Newfoundland ($127 million), the northern territories ($104 million) and PEI ($49 million).

R$

Federal S&T expenditures by major departments & agencies

($ millions)
 2008-092009-102010-112011-122012-13
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada 377   409   425   426   364   
Atomic Energy of Canada Limited 393   470   640   470   430   
Canada Foundation for Innovation 385   392   473   462   559   
Canadian Institutes of Health Research 980   998   1,041   1,046   1,010   
Canadian International Development Agency 435   410   402   434   407   
Canadian Space Agency 294   329   351   406   345   
Environment Canada 742   732    728   690   668   
Fisheries and Oceans Canada 289   283   281   288   267   
Health Canada 515   566   566   576   584   
Industry Canada 460   820   705   557   486   
National Defence 433   395   443   411   367   
National Research Council 781   1027   1016   796   722   
Natural Resources Canada 585   692   778   731    690   
Natural Sciences & Engineering Research Council1,036   1,057   1,085   1,096   1,063   
Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council683   690   693   703   692   
Statistics Canada 684   679   746   933   654   
Total of major departments and agencies 9,071   9,950   10,372   10,024   9,307   
Other 1,502   1,663   1,642   1,609   1,639   
Total 10,573   11,613   12,013   11,633   10,946   

Federal expenditures - S&T, R&D, RSA

($ millions)   
   Current Dollars   Constant 2002 Dollars   
   YearMain     
Estimates   
S&T   R&D   RSA   Main     
Estimates   
S&T   R&D   RSA   
 2000-01156,157   6,707   4,150   2,556   159,670   6,857   4,244   2,614   
 2001-02165,234   8,169   4,989   3,180   167,072   8,260   5,044   3,216   
 2002-03170,367   8,014   4,927   3,087   170,367   8,014   4,927   3,087   
 2003-04175,937   8,765   5,462   3,303   170,317   8,485   5,288   3,197   
 2004-05183,290   8,934   5,454   3,480   171,942   8,381   5,116   3,265   
 2005-06194,863   9,449   6,042   3,407   176,987   8,582   5,488   3,095   
 2006-07207,986   9,633   6,073   3,560   184,058   8,524   5,374   3,150   
 2007/-08230,772   10,176   6,602   3,573   197,918   8,727   5,662   3,064   
 2008-09241,308   10,573   6,655   3,918   198,771   8,709   5,482   3,227   
 2009-10236,135   11,613   7,456   4,157   198,266   9,751   6,260   3,491   
 2010-11261,200   12,013   7,826   4,187   213,051   9,799   6,384   3,415   
 2011-12250,800    11,633   7,279   4,354   197,792   9,174   5,740   3,434   
 2012-13251,896   10,946   6,967   3,979   ...   ...   ...   ...   
Source: Statistics Canada   



Other News






Events For Leaders in
Science, Tech, Innovation, and Policy


Discuss and learn from those in the know at our virtual and in-person events.



See Upcoming Events










You have 1 free article remaining.
Don't miss out - start your free trial today.

Start your FREE trial    Already a member? Log in






Top

By using this website, you agree to our use of cookies. We use cookies to provide you with a great experience and to help our website run effectively in accordance with our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.