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March 25, 2022RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PERSONNEL, 2019 In Nova Scotia, the number of personnel engaged in Research and Development (R&D) increased 10.9% from the previous year to 4,080 full-time equivalents (FTEs) in 2019 following two consecutive years of declines. This was the largest year-over-year gain across provinces in 2019.
In Canada, total number of R&D personnel increased 2.4% from the previous year to 263,910 FTES in 2019. R&D personnel increased in all occupational categories in 2019 except for technicians.
Looking at the spread of R&D personnel across Canada, Ontario had the highest proportion at 43.3% followed by Quebec and British Columbia. Nova Scotia accounted for 1.5% of national R&D personnel in 2019.
R&D personnel levels increased in most provinces in 2019 with the exception of Alberta and Prince Edward Island. In terms of percentage change, Nova Scotia had the largest increase followed by Newfoundland and Labrador.
Higher education sector continued to be the largest employer of R&D personnel in Nova Scotia accounting for 48% of all FTEs in 2019. Compared to 2018, the number of R&D personnel in higher education increased 1.6% to 1,940 FTEs. The increase was driven by a 2.3% gain in the number of researchers to 1,330. Researchers was also the largest occupational category in the higher education sector in Nova Scotia, accounting for 68.6% of all FTEs in this sector in 2019.
The business sector was the second largest employer of Nova Scotia’s R&D personnel in 2019. The number of R&D personnel in the business sector increased 25.9% year-over-year to 1,700 FTEs in 2019. This was the largest increase among all performing sectors. Within the business sector, researchers were the largest occupational category accounting for 65.9% (1,120) of all FTEs in this sector in 2019.
The federal sector R&D personnel increased 4.8% year-over-year to 440 FTEs in Nova Scotia in 2019 and accounted for 10.8% of all FTEs.
Nationally, the business enterprise sector continued to be the largest employer of R&D personnel in 2019, accounting for 63.6% of all FTEs in 2019. The higher education sector was the second-largest employer of R&D personnel in 2019, representing about 30% of all FTEs.
*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 2019. The number of researchers in Nova Scotia increased 10.9% year-over-year to 2,650 FTEs in 2019, accounting for 65.0% of all FTEs.
Technicians and support staff was the second largest R&D occupation in Nova Scotia in 2019. When compared to 2018, the number of technicians and support staff increased 8.1% to 1,340 FTEs in 2019.
While on-site research consultants only accounted for 2.5% of Nova Scotia’s total R&D personnel in 2019, the number of on-site research consultants more than doubled from the previous year and reached 100 FTEs. The number of on-site research consultants was not available for the 2000 – 2013 period.
Source: Statistics Canada. Table 27-10-0023-01 Personnel engaged in research and development, by geography
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