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Advanced Research and Development Capability

On the Frontiers of Knowledge in every field of Human Endeavour

Winning environment for research and innovation—Driving Canada’s excellence in research and development is a Made-in-Canada innovation model where basic research is integrated with business applications.

This model has resulted in lower research costs and an accelerated go-to-market strategy for foreign investors coming to Canada. As a result, Canada has experienced a significant increase in research and development spending. Total expenditures on research and development amounted to $29.2 billion in 2010, a 42 percent increase over 2000 (see figure below).

Figure: Spending on Research and Development in Canada, 2000 - 2010

Click the link below for details. 

Source: Statistics Canada. CANSIM, tables 358-0001 and 380-0017 and Catalogue nos. 88-001-XIE and 88F0006XIE.

Details of the above chart

  • 2000: 20.5 billion dollars
  • 2001: 23.1 billion dollars
  • 2002: 23.5 billion dollars
  • 2003: 24.6 billion dollars
  • 2004: 26.6 billion dollars
  • 2005: 28.02 billion dollars
  • 2006: 29.08 billion dollars
  • 2007: 29.9 billion dollars
  • 2008: 29.8 billion dollars
  • 2009: 29.3 billion dollars
  • 2010: 29.2 billion dollars

Global leaders innovate, grow and succeed in Canada—Among the list of Canada’s Top 25 corporate R&D spenders in 2009, 9 firms were foreign investors. These included such global names as IBM, Pratt & Whitney, Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, Sanofi-Aventis, GlaxoSmithKline, Norvartis, Pfizer and Merck. These nine companies invested $2.1 billion in R&D in Canada in 2009. And at the height of the global financial crisis, they actually increased their R&D expenditures by 6.5 percent from 2008 levels.

Source: RESEARCH Infosource Inc., Canada’s Top 100 Corporate R&D Spenders 2010.

The Lowest R&D Cost in the G-7—The cost of R&D in Canada is the lowest in the G-7.