Performance Indicator 12: R & D

Performance Indicator Twelve measures how much money is spent on research and development. It includes the sum of expenditures reported by (or estimated for) the various sectors involved in research and development — government, business, higher education and not-for-profit organizations.

In 2006, BC ranked fifth among the provinces in spending on research and development as a percent of GDP. It trailed Quebec, Ontario, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia.

On average, R&D as a percent of GDP did not grow in BC between 1990 and 1998. Above-average growth in six of eight years since then allowed BC to narrow the gap between its spending and the Canadian average, although BC still trailed in 2006.

Over the period 1990 to 2006, most provinces saw their ratio of R&D spending to GDP increase. The largest increases occurred in Prince Edward Island, Quebec and BC. Alberta and Newfoundland and Labrador had decreases.

Why It's Important Spending on research and development (R&D) is a key factor in innovation and the creation of new wealth.

North American Comparison

In 2006, British Columbia placed 36th among the 61 sub-national jurisdictions for this indicator with a ratio of 1.45 percent of GDP. This is an improvement of one position over last year.

The lowest-ranked jurisdictions, Wyoming and Louisiana, had less than one-third of BC's spending ratio. Top-ranked jurisdictions such as New Mexico and Massachusetts had between four and five times the spending ratio seen in BC.

For the period 1993 through 2006, BC's best rank was 33rd in 2004 and its worst was 45th in 1997.

International Comparison

British Columbia is a middling performer on Research and Development (R&D) as a percent of GDP in comparison to OECD countries. BC ranked 20th out of 31 jurisdictions in 2006 while Canada ranked 12th. BC placed 19th of 31 for average R&D expenditures between 1997 and 2006.

R&D spending as a percent of GDP increased in BC between 1997 and 2004 but had a small decline in each of 2005 and 2006. However, BC's R&D spending to GDP ratio has been above its ten-year average for six years and, among the 30 jurisdictions with comparable data, BC had the fifth-largest percentage point increase in its ratio between 1997 and 2006.

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