Canadian industrial research and development organizations

Expenditures by Canadian corporations on research and development accounted for about 50% of all spending on scientific research and development in Canada in 2007.

In the corporate sector research and development tends to focus on the creation or invention of new products and services or more commonly the incremental improvement of existing products and services. A good example of the former would be the invention of the BlackBerry, by the Waterloo, Ontario-based company, Research in Motion, while an example of the latter would be the development of a new class of aircraft, the regional jet by Bombardier Aerospace of Montreal, Quebec.

It is rare for corporations to undertake what might be considered "pure" scientific research. In almost all cases the corporate bottom line is a paramount consideration and the payoff for such activity is not usually immediately evident. However it is true that there are times when the difference between the two is not at all clear, as was the case for example, with atomic research at Chalk River, Ontario, during World War II and in the post war years, which led to the development of the CANDU power reactor. More recently, research in the field of nanotechnology blurs the distinction as well. Is investigation into the principles of the manipulation of atoms science or engineering?

In 2006, total spending on scientific and industrial research in Canada amounted to C$28.067 billion or about 2 percent of GDP. In 2006, Canadian corporations spent C$14.858 billion on research and development, representing about half of all R&D spending in Canada and about one percent of Canada's GDP.

In 2007, Canadian corporations spent C$15.773 billion on research and development, again representing about half of all R&D expenditures in Canada and an amount equal to about one percent of the GDP.

Below is a list of the largest corporate R&D spenders in Canada ranked by size. Also described are sectorial R&D expenditures for the 2006 fiscal year. A section that lists some important government R&D funding agencies is also included.

Largest Canadian corporate research and development spenders

 * Canada's ICT Top Corporate R&D Spenders 2005 Fiscal Year (in US$ millions)
 * Nortel Networks Corporation*      1,855.9     Comm/telecom equipment
 * Bell Canada                           1,436.0     Telecommunications services
 * ATI Technologies Inc.*                372.5       Computer equipment
 * IBM Canada Ltd. (fs)                  283.1       Software and computer services
 * Ericsson Canada Inc. (fs)             165.9       Comm/telecom equipment
 * Alcatel Canada Inc. (fs)              160.1       Comm/telecom equipment
 * Cognos Incorporated*                  106.0       Software & computer services
 * Telus Corporation                     103.2       Telecommunications services
 * Research In Motion Limited*           101.2       Comm/telecom equipment
 * PMC Sierra, Ltd. (fs)                  85.1       Electronic parts and components
 * Zarlink Semiconductor Inc.*            65.2       Comm/telecom equipment
 * Open Text Corporation*                  65.1      Software & computer services
 * CGI Group Inc.                          64.5      Software & computer services
 * Geac Computer Corporation Limited*+     57.9      Software & computer services
 * Hummingbird Ltd.*                       46.4      Software & computer services
 * Aastra Technologies Limited             43.2      Comm/telecom equipment
 * Motorola Canada Limited (fs)            42.1      Comm/telecom equipment
 * Mitel Networks Corporation*             41.4      Comm/telecom equipment
 * Source: RESEARCH Infosource Inc., Canada's Top 100 Corporate R&D List, 2006 (2/2007)
 * Canada's Life Sciences Top Corporate R&D Spenders 2005 Fiscal Year (in US$ Millions)
 * Apotex Inc.                        151.1
 * Pfizer Canada Inc. (fs)                147.5
 * GlaxoSmithKline Inc. (fs)              111.8
 * Merck Frosst Canada Ltd. (fs)           96.6
 * Biovail Corporation*                    88.9
 * AstraZeneca Canada Inc. (fs)            79.8
 * Sanofi Pasteur Limited (fs)             76.6
 * QLT Inc.*                               74.6
 * MDS Inc.                                71.8
 * Sanofi-aventis Canada Inc. (fs)         59.6
 * Vasogen Inc.                            59.1
 * Novartis Pharmaceuticals Canada Inc. (fs) 53.6
 * Wyeth Pharmaceuticals (fs)                50.0
 * Neurochem Inc.                            41.7
 * Source: RESEARCH Infosource Inc., Canada's Top 100 Corporate R&D List, 2006 (2/2007)
 * Canada's Aerospace Top Corporate R&D Spenders 2005 Fiscal Year (in US$ Millions)
 * Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp. (fs)      389.5
 * Bombardier Inc.*                    175.0
 * CAE Inc.                                88.8
 * Honeywell Canada (fs)                   76.0
 * MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. 40.4
 * Source: RESEARCH Infosource Inc., Canada's Top 100 Corporate R&D List, 2006 (2/2007)
 * Canada's Energy, Oil and Gas Top Corporate R&D Spenders 2005 Fiscal Year (in US$ Millions)
 * Atomic Energy of Canada Limited     218.0
 * Suncor Energy Inc.                      89.1
 * EnCana Corporation*                     80.0
 * Ballard Power Systems Inc.*             75.5
 * Imperial Oil Limited                    56.1
 * Syncrude Canada Ltd.                    36.6
 * Source: RESEARCH Infosource Inc., Canada's Top 100 Corporate R&D List, 2006 (2/2007)

Industrial research and development expenditures by sector

 * Canadian Gross Expenditure on R&D (GERD) by Performing Sectors - 2006 Estimates
 * C$ Millions
 * Business Enterprises  14,850,    52.4%
 * Higher Education  10,890,    38.4%
 * Federal Government  2,145,    7.6%
 * Provincial Government  345,    1.2%
 * Provincial Research Organizations  127,    0.4%
 * Total  28,357,    100.0%
 * Source: Statistics Canada, Science Statistics September 2006 (2/2007)
 * Canadian Industrial Intramural R&D Expenditures, Selected Industries - 2006 Estimates
 * C$ Millions
 * Machinery  488
 * Motor Vehicles and parts  537
 * Wholesale Trade  767
 * Semiconductor & other electronic components  869
 * Aerospace products and parts  912
 * Computer system design & related services  1,056
 * Scientific research & development services  1,142
 * Pharmaceutical & medicine  1,293
 * Information & cultural industries  1,518
 * Communication Equipment  1,580
 * Source: Statistics Canada, Science Statistics September 2006 (2/2007)
 * Canadian Industrial Intramural R&D Expenditures in Six Sub-group - 2006 Estimates
 * Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting      80
 * Mining and oil and gas extraction      261
 * Utilities      197
 * Construction      46
 * Manufacturing      8,273
 * Communication Equipment  1,580
 * Pharmaceutical & medicine  1,293
 * Aerospace products and parts  912
 * Semiconductor & other electronic components  869
 * Motor Vehicles and parts  537
 * Machinery  488
 * Paper  468
 * Navig., measuring, medical & control instruments  345
 * Other manufacturing industries  1,781
 * Services      5,993
 * Information and cultural industries  1,518
 * Scientific research & development services  1,142
 * Computer system design & related services  1,056
 * Wholesale Trade  767
 * Architectural, engineering and real estates  442
 * Health care and social assistance  364
 * Finance, insurance and real estate  356
 * All other services  348
 * Total All Industries      14,850
 * Source: Statistics Canada, Science Statistics August 2006 (2/2007)

Government industrial research and development funding agencies

 * Revenue Canada - Ottawa, Ontario
 * Scientific Research and Experimental Development Programme,
 * Federal government tax advantages for industrial research and development.
 * National Research Council of Canada - Ottawa, Ontario
 * NRC Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC-IRAP)- Ottawa (Montreal Road Campus), Ontario and NRC-IRAP across Canada,
 * Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation - Toronto, Ontario
 * Commercialization and Funding Organizations
 * Early Researcher Awards
 * The Health Technology Exchange
 * Innovation Demonstration Fund
 * International Strategic Opportunities Program
 * Ontario Commercialization Investment Funds
 * Ontario Fuel Cell Innovation Programme
 * Ontario Research Commercialization Program
 * Premiers Discovery Awards
 * Government of Newfoundland and Labrador
 * The Research and Development Corporation