canada

For those who track research funding in Canada, the news from a recent Statistics Canada release about business enterprise research and development (BERD) is depressingly familiar. Canadian businesses are expected to spend two and a half per cent less on research and development this year than they did last year. Because the 2015 inflation rate […]

The latest international comparative education data was recently released by Statistics Canada. As with previous editions, Canada fares well when it comes to the percentage of 25 to 64 year olds with tertiary education (college and university) credentials – 51 per cent compared to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) average of 33 […]

Across Canada and in Ontario, business and provincial government investment in research is falling, and universities are picking up the slack. The latest data on research and development (R&D) from Statistics Canada indicate that aggregate research expenditures in Canada will fall this year. Once forecast GDP inflation (1.3 per cent) is taken into account, the decline […]

It might be overstating the case for the Globe and Mail’s Konrad Yakabuski to “ blame business ” for Canada’s poor showing in research and development (R&D). But it is also becoming increasingly clear it makes little sense to demand universities and university researchers to become more business-like and pick up the entrepreneurial slack. As we noted a couple of weeks ago, the […]

Much has been made about the supposed Canadian “skills gap”, or the mismatch between the skills needed to fill vacant jobs and the skills actually possessed by workers. But new research by TD Economics suggests that the “gap” is largely a myth. The study, Jobs in Canada , finds that concerns about the skills gap are unsupported by […]

A decade ago, Mike Lazaridis highlighted the role of university research in developing the talent needed for success in the wider world of R&D. This is no less true today. Unfortunately, Canada continues to lag in university attainment rates, particularly in advanced degrees. Given the importance of producing research talent, it is no accident that the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development […]

The latest data from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) shows that Ontario continues to lead the pack in university attainment. Overall, Canada’s attainment rate in college and university education amongst 25-64 year olds is the highest amongst OECD member countries. Canada’s ranking is due in large part to college attainment rates. Although three other […]

When a pundit or politician attacks unions, they’re really attacking equality for everyone, and for women in particular. Unions and the public sector – and public sector unions especially – are no strangers to criticism. In the wake of the Great Recession, perhaps it should be no surprise that attacks are more vociferous than when times […]

Higher education is a provincial responsibility, which gives the federal government a free pass when it comes to scrutiny of university and college funding. But the decline in federal transfers for postsecondary institutions is a big reason why tuition is so high and per-student public funding levels are so low. Federal funding for universities, colleges, and […]

The gap in government funding between Ontario universities and American public universities has narrowed, albeit simply by default. But the gap in provincial funding between Ontario and the rest of Canada is headed in the other direction. At its best in 2006-07, the rate of Ontario government operating, trust and research funding for teaching, research and […]

The Council of Canadian Academies’ report on the gender dimensions of Canada’s research capacity found that the pattern of under-representation of women in universities is similar to that in other advanced countries. While recognizing Canadian women have made great strides, the assessment identified a number of life-course factors affecting their success. The broadest factor concerns the learning and professional trajectories of […]

Female academics in Canada have made gains, but their progress remains uneven by discipline and rank according to new research. The Council of Canadian Academies (CCA) recently released an assessment of the factors influencing the career paths of women academics at Canadian universities. Part of the story it tells is similar to the one outlined in last year’s Statistics […]

Much has been made recently about the “productivity” of Ontario’s universities. But when it comes to graduation rates – a key indicator of productivity – Ontario leads the United States by a huge margin. In 2010, the Ontario government set a goal of a 70 per cent post-secondary attainment rate (including apprenticeships) amongst Ontarians by 2020. This would mean […]