Health R&D accounts for growing share of Canadian GERD: StatsCan

The Liberal government's drive to emphasize health R&D during its 13 years in power has fuelled a remarkable increase in outlays from all sources, accounting for 22.7% of Canada's gross expenditures on R&D (GERD) in 2005. Accelerating a trend that began under the previous Mulroney administration, the Liberal's support of the higher education sector, a strengthening of the intellectual property regime and internal health R&D spending produced a remarkable transformation in the health R&D landscape. It's a track record many are hoping will be extended by the Harper government.

In 2005, health R&D expenditures reached nearly $6 billion, with $3.7 billion or 61.8% performed in the higher education sector, according to the latest data from Statistics Canada. The second largest performer is the business sector at $2.0 billion.

On the funding side, business and the higher education sectors each provided $1.6 billion, followed by $1.2 billion from the federal government, $740 million from foreign sources, $464 million from the private, non-profit sector and $427 million from provincial governments.

Under the Mulroney government, health R&D as a percentage of GERD rose from 13.5% in 1988 to 16.5% in 1993. There was a negligible increase during first five years under the Liberals while it tamed the national deficit, dropping to 15.8% in 1994 and climbing to just 16.8% by 1999. But with the formation of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research in 2000, the spending exploded, with a 3.7% jump in health R&D/GERD in 2002 to 21.6% (see chart).

That same year, health R&D performance by the higher education sector increased $573 million to nearly $3 billion and has been increasing at a respectable clip ever since. Per capita spending on health R&D now stands at $184.

Over the 18-year scope of StatsCan's data, the business sector registered the greatest overall jump in performance, achieving a 10-fold increase from $196 million in 1988 to $2.0 billion in 2005. The performance of the higher education sector jumped four-fold during the same period from $895 million to $3.7 billion.

A geographic breakdown of health R&D is only available for the higher education sector with the latest data dating back to 2003. Not surprisingly, 71% of the $3.1 billion in activity for that year is in Ontario ($1.3 billion) and Quebec ($876 million). Alberta ranks third with $330 million, followed by British Columbia ($259.7 million), Nova Scotia ($107.3 million), Manitoba ($83.1 million), Saskatchewan ($65.3 million) and Newfoundland ($36 million).

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