Post-secondary Education in Canada: Strategies for Success

2007 Report

Summary: Part I  Chapter 2 

Innovation, knowledge creation and knowledge transfer

Knowledge creation and transfer are key drivers of a productive economy and prosperous society. In Canada, research and development (R&D) are carried out across multiple sectors, but particularly by the PSE sector. Canada relies more heavily on its post-secondary institutions for R&D than most OECD countries.

Figure 2.2.1  R&D intensity in top 20 OECD countries, GERD/GDP, 2005


Source: Main Science and Technology Indicators 2006-2

Among the positive recent trends:

  • Support for university R&D in Canada has risen at twice the growth rate of R&D in the business sector over the past 10 years.
  • Canada’s total research personnel increased by 38% between 1994 and 2004.
  • A comparison of Canadian and U.S. commercialization results suggests that Canadian universities compare favourably to their U.S. counterparts in invention disclosures, licence options and creation of spin-offs.

However, there continue to be troubling trends:

  • Canada’s proportion of gross expenditures on R&D (GERD) to GDP ranked 15th among 39 OECD countries in 2005, the same position held by Canada in 2001.
  • An international study of 11 OECD countries on degrees granted in technical areas shows that, despite Canada’s high educational attainment, it ranked 10th in the share of science and engineering degrees as a percentage of new degrees and ninth in science and engineering PhDs as a share of graduates.
  • Despite comparing favourably to the U.S. in the number of licence options related to commercialization of R&D, Canadian universities generate only half the licence income of American institutions for similar investments.
  • Canada lacks an independent body, operating at arm’s length from PSE providers, that is charged with assessing the degree to which new knowledge generated by postsecondary institutions is creating economic and social benefits.

What does this mean?

In some regions of Canada, significant R&D takes place only in post-secondary institutions (PSIs). Canada’s relatively high dependence on PSIs for research and development means that policy regarding their R&D function takes on greater importance than in partner OECD countries.

Since the results of R&D have a direct impact on productivity levels and the standard of living, there is a need to examine whether Canada has the highly qualified personnel required to meet the country’s economic and technological needs. In addition, there is uncertainty about Canada’s ability to replace the faculty expected to retire in the near future.

Decision-makers should also be interested in gaining more insight about the barriers that Canadian researchers may face in filing patents or in licensing their knowledge. For example, do barriers have any relationship with the tendency of Canada’s universities to make investments in start-up companies, which are more risky than pursuing licensing arrangements?

Canada could strengthen its R&D activities by:

  • developing a set of national targets related to expenditures on R&D, and
  • charging an independent body to assess the degree to which new knowledge generated by post-secondary institutions is beneficial to the economy and society.


Part I in full (PDF, 3.1 MB)

 

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