Here are Canada’s Top 100 Corporate R&D Spenders!
November 9, 2012
Total research spending for Canada's Top 100 R&D Corporations jumped by 6.1% to $10.9 billion in Fiscal 2011, up from $10.3 billion in Fiscal 2010. This result reverses a 5-year decline in R&D spending. Research In Motion Limited retained its hold on first place in the national ranking, spending $1.54 billion on research in Fiscal 2011, a 10.8% improvement over Fiscal 2010. Bombardier Inc. jumped 8 positions in the ranking to second place overall with a 27.0% increase and total R&D spending of $1.34 billion.
$100 Million Club
Twenty-four companies qualified for Research Infosource's elite $100 Million Club - firms that reported $100 million or more in research spending in Fiscal 2011. Together these companies spent $8.14 billion in Fiscal 2011, accounting for 74% of total Top 100 spending, up from $7.59 billion the year before.
Gainers and Losers
The 10 leading firms in R&D spending growth in Fiscal 2011 all increased their spending by 55.0% or more. The largest gainer was Celestica, which recorded a 341.7% gain in R&D spending. Martinrea International posted an impressive increase of 225.7% in its R&D spending, followed by Canadian Solar (178.4%), Neo Material Technologies (135.6%) and Dorel Industries (127.2%) rounding out the Top 5. Overall, 63 companies posted increases in their research spending compared with 37 firms where R&D spending remained the same or dropped in Fiscal 2011.
Regional Results
Thirteen Top 100 companies in Alberta increased their R&D spending by 33.4% to a total of $824.8 million, far in excess of the 6.1% national R&D spending increase. Eleven B.C. companies on the list expanded their spending by 14.3% to $596.3 million, while 48 Ontario firms managed only a 5.4% R&D spending growth, totaling $5.66 billion. In spite of some large individual increases, 25 Quebec companies managed only a combined 1.4% total R&D spending increase, to $3.77 billion in Fiscal 2011.
Industry Sectors
Thirteen Top 100 performers in the Communications/Telecom Equipment sector spent a total of $2.48 billion on research in Fiscal 2011, accounting for 23% of the total. However, 5 Aerospace firms were not far behind, spending a total of $2.01 billion or 18% of Top 100 R&D spending. Twenty-one Pharmaceuticals/Biotechnology firms spent a total of $1.27 billion in Fiscal 2011, down from $1.39 billion in Fiscal 2010, a significant drop of -8.3%. All ICT sectors combined accounted for 46% of the Top 100 total, which indicates the importance of the sector in gauging overall Canada's R&D performance.
For further information:
Download Canada’s Top 100 Corporate R&D Spenders List 2012 (PDF)
Download Canada’s Top 100 Corporate R&D Spenders List 2012 Analysis (PDF)