Modest Gain Raises Hopes for University Research Income Advances by 2.2% Overall

TORONTO, Oct. 26, 2017 /CNW/ - The total research income reported by the country's 50 leading universities rose to $6.86 billion in Fiscal 2016, a 2.2% gain over Fiscal 2015, according to Research Infosource Inc., which today released its annual ranking of Canada's Top 50 Research Universities.  The Fiscal 2016 research income growth reverses the lacklustre results of the previous 4 years of 0.6%, -1.6%, 1.1% and 1.1%.  Overall, research income increased at 27 universities and fell at 23 others.  Research intensity - research income per faculty - increased by 1.9% in Fiscal 2016 to $175,700 per researcher.

University of Toronto retained top spot on the Top 50 ranking with $1.01 billion of research income, followed by McGill University ($547.5 million, up 2 places).  University of British Columbia ranked #3 ($532.1 million, down 1 place from last year) and Université de Montréal was in #4 spot ($522.9 million, down 1 place).  University of Alberta maintained 5th place ($433.7 million) and Université Laval gained 1position, moving into #6 ($376.9 million).  University of Calgary ($360.5 million) dropped 1 spot to #7.  McMaster University #8 ($354.6 million), University of Ottawa #9 ($326.0 million) and Western University #10 ($234.7 million) maintained their ranks from last year.  Universities that made the strongest research income gains in Fiscal 2016 were University of Saskatchewan (27.8%) in the Medical/Doctoral category, University of Regina (12.6%) in the Comprehensive category and Wilfrid Laurier University (23.1%) in the Undergraduate group.

"Fiscal 2016 brings a welcomed respite for university research income after several years of tepid or even negative growth", said Ron Freedman, CEO of Research Infosource Inc.  "Most of the research income growth came from Federal Granting Council sources (2.7%), together with Foreign Governments (6.5%) and Non-Corporate funders which include Individuals (23.7%) and Not-for-profit/Foundations (9.7%).  Funding from Corporations rose by 6.3%.  Provincial Government funding declined by -2.4%, which dragged on the overall trend."

Research Infosource has designated 3 institutions as Research Universities of the Year 2017 in their respective categories:  University of Toronto (Medical/Doctoral), University of Waterloo (Comprehensive) and Lakehead University (Undergraduate).  These institutions stood out on a balanced scorecard of research input and output/impact measures. 

This year Research Infosource spotlighted university research intensity per graduate student (research income per graduate student enrolled in 2015-2016 at full-service universities).  McMaster University ($81,100 per student), University of Guelph ($60,100 per student) and University of Lethbridge ($35,800 per student) headed the Medical/Doctoral, Comprehensive and Undergraduate categories respectively.

Research Infosource also highlighted university corporate research partnerships - grants or contracts received from corporate sources during the period FY2012-FY2016 at full-service universities.  Winners for Total corporate research income were McMaster University ($479.5 million) in the Medical/Doctoral category, University of Guelph ($101.9 million) in the Comprehensive category and Université du Québec à Chicoutimi ($47.3 million) in the Undergraduate category.  For Corporate research income as percent of total university research income, winners were McMaster University (29.3%) in the Medical/Doctoral category, Université du Québec à Montréal (14.5%) in the Comprehensive category and Université du Québec à Chicoutimi (37.1%) in the Undergraduate category.

For complete information: https://researchinfosource.com/top50_univ.php

About Research Infosource Inc.
Research Infosource Inc. is Canada's source of R&D intelligence.  Drawing from proprietary databases, Research Infosource publishes Canada's Innovation Leaders, which includes Canada's Top 100 Corporate R&D Spenders, Canada's Top 50 Research Universities, Canada's Top 40 Research Hospitals and Canada's Top 50 Research Colleges.  As well, Research Infosource publishes specialized reports and The Innovation Atlas of Canada™ – a web-based research and innovation mapping and data information product.

SOURCE Research Infosource Inc.

For further information: For additional information or for an interview, please contact: Ron Freedman, CEO, Research Infosource Inc.,, Telephone: [phone], ext. 22, Cell: 416-879-9000, Email: [e-mail]

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