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January 26, 2026RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PERSONNEL, 2023 The number of personnel engaged in Research and Development (R&D) increased 4.9% to 5,360 full-time equivalents (FTEs) in 2023 in Nova Scotia.
Nationally, R&D personnel increased for a seventh consecutive year. Canada R&D personnel increased 2.4% to 336,570 FTEs. Among the ten provinces, eight posted an increase in R&D personnel with Prince Edward Island reporting the largest increase. New Brunswick reported the largest decline in R&D personnel followed by Ontario.
Looking at the distribution of R&D personnel across Canada, Ontario had the highest proportion at 42.5% followed by Quebec (28.8%) and British Columbia (14.3%). Nova Scotia accounted for 1.6% of national R&D personnel in 2023.
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 24.5% from 2,000 in 2021 to 2,490 in 2022 to become the largest employer of R&D personnel. In 2023, the business sector empoloyed 2,540 R&D personnel (an increase of 2.0% from 2022). Higher education R&D personnel were up 10.3% from 2,130 in 2022 to 2,350 in 2023. Federal sector R&D personnel in Nova Scotia were down to 430 (-4.4%) from 450 in 2023.
*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 2023. The number of researchers in Nova Scotia increased 4.0% year-over-year to 3,620 FTEs in 2023, accounting for 67.5% of all research and development FTEs. Technicians and support staff increased by 7.2% to 1,630 personnel in 2023. The number of on-site research consultants remained unchanged at 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
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