The Economics and Statistics Division maintains archives of previous publications for accountability purposes, but makes no updates to keep these documents current with the latest data revisions from Statistics Canada. As a result, information in older documents may not be accurate. Please exercise caution when referring to older documents. For the latest information and historical data, please contact the individual listed to the right.
<--- Return to Archive
For additional information relating to this article, please contact:
February 03, 2025RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PERSONNEL, 2022 The number of personnel engaged in Research and Development (R&D) increased 13.0% to 5,050 full-time equivalents (FTEs) in 2022 in Nova Scotia. This was the fastest growth among provinces (just slightly faster than in New Brunswick).
Nationally, R&D personnel increased for a sixth consecutive year. Canada R&D personnel increased 3.7% to 315,030 FTEs with gains in all provinces. The smallest increase was in Manitoba.
Looking at the spread of R&D personnel across Canada, Ontario had the highest proportion at 44.7% followed by Quebec (28.0%) and British Columbia (12.9%). Nova Scotia accounted for 1.6% of national R&D personnel in 2022.
Nova Scotia's higher education sector had long been the largest group of R&D personnel in the province. However, in 2022 there was a notable increase in business sector R&D personnel - rising 21.5% from 2,000 in 2021 to 2,430 in 2022 to become the largest employer of R&D personnel. Higher education R&D personnel were up 6.0% from 2,010 in 2021 to 2,130 in 2022. Federal sector R&D personnel in Nova Scotia were unchanged at 450 in 2022.
*There was a small portion of provincial personnel from 2002 to 2004, not shown in the chart
Looking at occupational categories, researchers continued to be Nova Scotia’s largest R&D personnel category in 2022. The number of researchers in Nova Scotia increased 8.6% year-over-year to 3,420 FTEs in 2022, accounting for 67.7% of all research and development FTEs. Technicians and support staff increased by 19.7% to 1,520 personnel in 2022. The number of on-site research consultants more than doubled to 110 (data for this category were not available prior to 2014).
Source: Statistics Canada. Table 27-10-0023-01 Personnel engaged in research and development, by geography
<--- Return to Archive
