The Socio-Economic Importance of Scientific Research To Canada

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The Socio-Economic Importance of Scientific Research to Canada Page 43© David A. Wolfe and Ammon Salterabout one fifth of total federal spending on R&D. The data in Table 9 indicate how the trendin this category has fared in recent years.Table 9. Federal Government Payments to the Higher Education Sector for R&D, byDepartment or Agency, 1987-88 to 1996-97 (in millions of dollars)Department 1987-88 1988-89 1989-90 1990-91 1991-92 1992-93 1993-94 1994-95 1995-96 p 1996-97 eor agencyAGR............. 4 7 5 5 4 3 3 5 4 2CIDA............ 25 27 24 25 26 24 22 21 21 21ENV............. 2 2 1 2 2 5 9 15 13 11HC............... 8 11 10 11 11 11 9 15 16 16MRC............ 158 170 183 219 222 231 233 239 227 218.NDEF........... 8 9 9 11 8 7 6 6 10 8NRES........... 5 6 7 7 7 7 8 7 6 4.NRC............. 28 30 32 37 33 37 32 35 34 19NSERC......... 281 299 317 377 389 401 394 393 380 360.SSHRC.......... 40 46 50 57 60 61 61 61 60 57Other............ 15 17 26 18 18 33 39 34 28 31Total ............ 574 624 664 769 780 820 814 831 798 748Notes: p = preliminary figures; e estimatesSource: Statistics Canada, Table 24, Federal Government Expenditures and Personnel onActivities in the Natural and Social Sciences, 1987-88 to 1996-97, ST 97-04 (March 1997).The data in Table 9 indicate that the pattern of federal spending on research activities in thehigher education sector has tracked the broader pattern of spending in the portfolio as a whole.Spending rose significantly in the late 1980s and early 1990s following the commitment by thegovernment to improve the research base, especially for the three granting councils. Notsurprisingly, it reached its peak in 1994-95, just before the introduction of the government’srestraint program. While spending levels held fairly steady during the first two years of thegovernment’s mandate, they have fallen precipitously since — by more than $80 million incurrent dollars (and even more if allowance is made for the effects of inflation). Thisrepresents a fairly major reversal of the policy directions enunciated in the early years of theLiberal government’s mandate and contradicts fairly strongly the message sent out during theS&T Review — both those contained in the interdepartmental working documents and in thefinal report. The fall in the level of federal spending in this area represents a significant blow43
The Socio-Economic Importance of Scientific Research to Canada Page 44© David A. Wolfe and Ammon Salterto the funding of research in the higher education sector. This was clearly acknowledged byJohn Manley on his swearing in as Industry Minister for the Liberal government’s secondmandate. He indicated that one of his two immediate priorities in his second term in theportfolio would be to fight for a larger share of the budget for the research granting councils(Eggertson 1997, p. B4). This represents one of the strongest affirmations from the currentgovernment of the validity of the arguments presented above.While the federal government is a principal funder of research in the higher education sector, itis by no means the only funder. Additional funds are also provided by provincialgovernments, the higher education sector itself, business enterprise, private non–profitorganizations and foreign funders. The data in Table 10 present the other sources of fundingfor basic research and the relative proportions of their contribution. Some caution must betaken in interpreting the data in this table, particularly with respect to the estimates for thehigher education sector. These calculations are based on estimates of the post-secondaryinstitutions’ total budgets devoted to research, using estimates of time use, some of which aredrawn from other countries. 25 The data in this table are not directly comparable to those in theprevious ones, because they are derived from surveys of the institutions themselves, whereasthe data in the previous table are derived from the annual survey of federal S&T activities.Table 10. Estimates of R&D Expenditures in the Higher Education Sector by Source ofFunds, 1987-88 to 1994-95 (in millions of dollars)Year Federal Provincial Business Higher Private Foreign TotalGovernment Government Enterprise Education non-profit1987-88 560.3 217.8 93.8 823.7 141.5 11.6 1,848.71988-89 624.9 261.2 115.1 810.9 172.8 13.2 1,998.21989-90 669.4 285.5 139.7 941.1 165.2 11.8 2,212.81990-91 815.0 309.7 155.3 964.1 196.9 12.6 2,453.51991-92 829.4 309.3 241.6 1,039.0 225.7 14.6 2,659.51992-93 865.2 322.7 304.9 1,034.6 202.5 20.4 2,750.31993-94 872.2 339.0 306.9 1,032.5 249.5 19.7 2,819.71994-95 883.0 338.9 296.7 1,057.9 263.5 17.7 2,857.725 The estimates for these data are currently undergoing revision as part of Statistics Canada’s Science andTechnology Rede sign Project.44
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