Universities boost sponsored research income by 3.6% but federal cuts anticipated

Sponsored research income at Canadian universities continued its long growth curve, posting a modest 3.6% increase in 2010 to $6.46 billion for the nation's top 50 institutions. But planned cutbacks at the federal and provincial levels to rein in runaway deficits may curtail the longest expansion of university research in Canadian history.

According to the latest data from Research Infosource, a sister company to RE$EARCH MONEY, research income at the Top 50 universities increased 134% between 2000 and 2010 as the granting councils and the Canada Foundation for Innovation poured resources into research personnel, infrastructure and operating costs.

Canada's largest universities remain firmly in control of the vast majority of university research income. The G-15 group of Canada's most research intensive universities account for $5.24 billion or 81.2% of the 2010 total. The Institut national de la recherché scientifique, Univ of Ottawa, Univ of Quebec at Montreal and Queen's Univ all posted year-over-year, double digital growth while the Univ of Western Ontario, Univ of Waterloo, Univ of Victoria, Univ of Manitoba, Univ of Guelph, Univ of Sherbrooke, Carleton Univ and Dalhousie Univ all experienced declines.

The fastest growth in sponsored research income was found among Canada's smaller institutions with the Univ of Quebec at Outaouais (#49) leading the pack with 50.9% annual growth to $8.2 million. Other institutions rising rapidly up the ranks include Univ of Quebec at Rimouski, up 31% to $22.8 million (#29), Brock Univ, up 21.3% to $15.7 million (#39) and the Univ of Regina, up 17.6% to $23.8 million (#28).

U of T remains top-ranked

Top-ranked Univ of Toronto posted a modest 2.4% increase in 2010, racking up $878.7 million in research support and pushing it ever closer to becoming the first university to reach $1 billion in sponsored research income. Whether that happens in the near future is the subject of vigorous debate while the academic sector waits for the next federal budget.

"Across Canada, government revenues are declining and this will inevitably put limits on the ability of governments to fund a range of desirable activities, university research included," says Research Info-source CEO Ron Freedman. "It is hard to see how the sector will escape some cutbacks. Contributions from other sectors are unlikely to make up the difference, which means that some belt tightening is likely on the horizon."

Canada has 16 universities that offer medical and doctoral training. These are typically the nation's largest universities and together account for 81% of the Top 50 research income. There are 22 comprehensive universities accounting for 14% of the total while 220 undergraduate institutions account for 5%.

Ontario and Quebec respectively account for 40% and 26% of total research income, followed by Alberta (13%), British Columbia (11%), Saskatchewan (3%) and Manitoba (3%). Institutions in the four Atlantic provinces account for the remaining 4%.

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