The research and knowledge transfer activities of Canada’s universities contributed $50 billion to the country’s GDP in 2004 according to a new study released in October 2005 by the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada.
Momentum: The 2005 Report on University Research and Knowledge Transfer details the collective progress of universities in meeting research, commercialization and knowledge transfer targets and the benefits that accrue to society from these efforts.
The report found that university research made up 38 per cent of all research activities in Canada in 2004. All sectors—including government, private and not-for-profit—have increased their investments in university research over the past 10 years.
Another report just released by Research Infosource shows that in 2004, sponsored research at Canada’s top 50 research universities reached more than $5 billion for the first time. This represented an increase of 17 per cent over fiscal 2003. That report ranked the University of Ottawa as tenth in Canada with total funding of $190.3 million for research.
The AUCC notes that since 1999, the value of industrial contracts and the number of new licences to universities, along with patent applications by universities, have all doubled, while the number of spin-off companies grew by 25 per cent.
But the report points out that Canada faces major competition. Countries like Sweden, Finland and Japan continue to be world leaders in terms of their overall investment in R&D as compared to their GDP.
