Research and development personnel, 2012
Archived Content
Information identified as archived is provided for reference, research or recordkeeping purposes. It is not subject to the Government of Canada Web Standards and has not been altered or updated since it was archived. Please "contact us" to request a format other than those available.
Released: 2014-12-16
In 2012, there were 223,930 full-time equivalent personnel engaged in research and development (R&D) activities in Canada, down 5.4% from 2011. This national decrease in R&D personnel was driven by a 9.2% decline in business enterprise sector personnel in 2012.
Despite the decline, the business enterprise sector remained the largest employer of R&D personnel, although its share of total R&D personnel (59.0%) reached its lowest level over the past decade in 2012. The higher education sector was the second largest employer, accounting for 31.8% of total R&D personnel. The combined federal and provincial governments employed 8.5%, while private non-profit sector workers made up the rest of total R&D personnel.
Ontario continued to be the jurisdiction with the most R&D personnel, at 99,900 full-time equivalents or 44.6% of total R&D personnel in 2012. Quebec was second with 65,970 (29.5%), and British Columbia was third with 23,580 (10.5%). Compared with 2011 totals, only Prince Edward Island recorded an increase in the number of R&D personnel in 2012. All other provinces and territories showed decreases in their R&D personnel, except Saskatchewan, which saw no change.
The International Standard Classification of Occupation allocates R&D personnel into three categories: researchers, technicians and support staff. Researchers accounted for 69.9% of total R&D personnel, with technicians and support staff representing 20.5% and 9.6% respectively. There were 156,550 full-time equivalent researchers working in Canada in 2012, down 4.0% from 2011. The number of technicians declined 12.7% while support staff increased 2.6%.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) compiles information on R&D personnel by member countries, and results vary by country. In 2012, Finland reported the highest number of full-time equivalent researchers per thousand total employment (16.1), followed by Denmark (13.6). Canada recorded 8.8 full-time equivalent researchers per thousand total employment, compared with 8.8 in the United States in 2011 (the latest year of available national data from the OECD).
Note to readers
Data on international comparisons were obtained from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's Main Science and Technology Indicators (volume 2014, no. 1, Table 8). The number of full-time researchers per thousand total employment in 2012 for Canada was updated with data from this release and CANSIM table 383-0030. Full-time equivalent is a measure of the time actually devoted to research and development (R&D). An employee who is engaged in R&D for half a year has a full-time equivalence of 0.5.
R&D personnel encompass a variety of occupations that are classified into three categories according to the International Standard Classification of Occupation: researchers, technicians and support staff. Researchers generally include scientists and engineers who engage in the conception and creation of knowledge, products, processes, methods and systems. Technicians are individuals whose main tasks require technical knowledge and experience in R&D related fields such as engineering or physical and life sciences. Support staff encompass skilled and unskilled craftsmen, secretarial and clerical staff that participate in R&D projects.
Contact information
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (613-951-4636; statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@canada.ca).
- Date modified: