September 2020

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Ottawa, Ontario
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CENTRE FOR THE
STUDY OFLIVING
STANDARDS

Innovation in New Brunswick

Kimberly Wong

September 2020

CSLS Research Report 2020-08

Innovation in New Brunswick
Table of Contents
Abstract ......................................................................................................................................1
List of Charts ..............................................................................................................................2
List of Tables ..............................................................................................................................3
List of Appendix Charts ..............................................................................................................3
Executive Summary ....................................................................................................................5I.

Innovation Situation in New Brunswick ............................................................................. 10
A. R&D Spending ............................................................................................................... 11
B. R&D Personnel .............................................................................................................. 33
C. Patents ............................................................................................................................ 44
D. Firm-Based Innovation Statistics .................................................................................... 45
E. Business Investment ....................................................................................................... 50
F.

Business Entry................................................................................................................ 68

II. Literature Review............................................................................................................... 72
A. Innovation Situation in Atlantic Canada and New Brunswick ......................................... 72
B. Explaining the Weak State of Innovation in Atlantic Canada and New Brunswick .......... 74
C. Recommendations to Enhance Innovation in Atlantic Canada and New Brunswick ........ 77
III.

Summary and Conclusion ............................................................................................... 79

A. Levels of Innovation ....................................................................................................... 79
B. Trends in Innovation....................................................................................................... 80
C. Barriers to Innovation ..................................................................................................... 81
References ................................................................................................................................ 83
Appendix .................................................................................................................................. 86

Innovation in New Brunswick
Abstract
This report is part of a research project on the linkages between innovation andproductivity in New Brunswick, prepared for the Atlantic Institute for Policy Research at the
University of New Brunswick. This report examines the innovation situation in New Brunswickby analyzing the levels and trends of seven indicators of innovation: R&D spending, R&D
personnel, patents, firm-based innovation statistics, non-residential fixed investment, investment
in intellectual property products, and business entry. This report finds that New Brunswick’s
state of innovation was weak compared to the other provinces, but has improved over time. New
Brunswick ranked below the national average for all seven innovation indicators, with especiallypoor results for business R&D spending and personnel, patents, and firm-level innovation.
However, New Brunswick enjoyed an absolute and relative improvement in five of sevenindicators: R&D spending, R&D personnel, patents, firm-based innovation statistics, andinvestment in intellectual property products. Results for only two indicators—non-residential
fixed capital investment and number of active businesses—deteriorated.

1

List of Charts
Chart 1: R&D Spending per Capita by Performer Sector and Province, 2017 ............................ 12
Chart 2: R&D Intensity by Performer Sector and Province, 2017 .............................................. 15
Chart 3: R&D Spending in Canada by Performer Sector as a Share of Total R&D Spending by
Province, 2017 .......................................................................................................................... 17
Chart 4: R&D Spending by Performer Sector in New Brunswick, Current Dollars, 1981-2017 .. 26
Chart 5: Total R&D Spending by Performer Sector in New Brunswick, Constant 2012 Dollars,
1981-2017 ................................................................................................................................. 27
Chart 6: R&D Intensity by Performer Sector in Canada and New Brunswick, 1981-2017 .......... 28
Chart 7: R&D Intensity by Performer Sector in New Brunswick Relative to Canada’s, 1981-2017................................................................................................................................................. 30
Chart 8: R&D Personnel by Performer Sector and Province, 2013............................................. 33
Chart 9: R&D Personnel by Performer Sector as a Share of Total Employment by Province, 2013................................................................................................................................................. 36
Chart 10: R&D Personnel by Performance Sector as a Share of Total R&D Personnel by
Province, 2013 .......................................................................................................................... 38
Chart 11: R&D Personnel by Performer Sector in New Brunswick, 2000-2013 ......................... 39
Chart 12: R&D Personnel by Performer Sector as a Share of Total Employment in New
Brunswick and Canada, 2000-2013 ........................................................................................... 41
Chart 13: R&D Personnel by Performer Sector as a Share of Total Employment in New
Brunswick Relative to Canada’s, 2000-2013 ............................................................................. 42
Chart 14: Number of Patents Granted by USPTO in Canada by Province, 2016 ........................ 44
Chart 15: Number of Patents Granted by USPTO in New Brunswick, 1980-2016...................... 45
Chart 16: Share of Firms that Are Innovative in Canada by Region, 2015-2017 ........................ 46
Chart 17: Change in Share of Firms that Are Innovative in Canada by Region from 2010-2012 to
2015-2017 ................................................................................................................................. 46
Chart 18: Types of Innovation Implemented by Firms in Canada by Region, 2015-2017 ........... 48
Chart 19: Share of Firms that Use Advanced Technologies in Canada by Region, 2017 ............ 49
Chart 20: Type of Non-Residential Investment as a Share of Nominal GDP by Province, 2018 . 51
Chart 21: Type of Investment as a Share of Total Non-Residential Investment by Province, 2018................................................................................................................................................. 54
Chart 22: Type of Non-Residential Investment in New Brunswick, Current Dollars, 1981-201856
Chart 23: Total Non-Residential Investment in New Brunswick, Constant 2012 Dollars, 19812018 .......................................................................................................................................... 57
Chart 24: Type of Non-Residential Investment as a Share of Nominal GDP in New Brunswick
and Canada, 1981-2018 ............................................................................................................. 58
Chart 25: Type of Non-Residential Investment as a Share of Nominal GDP in New Brunswick
Relative to Canada’s, 1981-2018 ............................................................................................... 60

2

Chart 26: Type of Investment in Intellectual Property Products as a Share of Nominal GDP by
Province, 2018 .......................................................................................................................... 62
Chart 27: Type of Investment in Intellectual Property Products in New Brunswick, 1981-2018 . 64
Chart 28: Type of Investment in Intellectual Property Products as a Share of Nominal GDP in
New Brunswick and Canada, 1981-2018 ................................................................................... 65
Chart 29: Type of Investment in Intellectual Property Products as a Share of Nominal GDP in
New Brunswick Relative to Canada’s, 1981-2018 ..................................................................... 67
Chart 30: Business Entry Rates in New Brunswick by Industry, 2017 ....................................... 68
Chart 31: Business Entry Rates by Province, 2017 .................................................................... 69
Chart 32: Number of Active Businesses by Province, 2002-2017 .............................................. 70
Chart 33: Immigrant Population in Canada by Province, 2019 ................................................... 76
Chart 34: International Immigration in Canada by Province, 2018-2019 .................................... 77

List of Tables
Table 1: Business R&D Expenditures by Industry in Canada and New Brunswick, 2016........... 19
Table 2: Nominal Value Added (VA) in Canada and New Brunswick, 2016 ............................. 20
Table 3: R&D intensity in Canada and New Brunswick, 2016 ................................................... 21
Table 4: Estimated R&D Expenditures in New Brunswick by Industry, 2016 ............................ 22
Table 5: R&D Spending in Canada (2018) and Nominal Value Added in Canada and New
Brunswick (2016)...................................................................................................................... 23
Table 6: Types of Advanced Technology Used by Firms in Canada by Region, 2017 ................ 49
Table 7: Reasons Firms Did Not Adopt or Use Advanced Technologies in Canada by Region,2017 .......................................................................................................................................... 50
Table 8: Summary of the Level of Innovation in New Brunswick by Indicator .......................... 79
Table 9: Summary of the Trends in Innovation in New Brunswick by Indicator ........................ 80

List of Appendix Charts
Appendix Chart 1: R&D Spending per Capita by Performer Sector in New Brunswick as a Shareof Canada’s, 2017 ..................................................................................................................... 86
Appendix Chart 2: R&D Spending by Performer Sector in New Brunswick as a Share of
Canada’s, 1981-2017................................................................................................................. 86
Appendix Chart 3: R&D Spending per R&D Employee by Performer Sector and Province, 2013................................................................................................................................................. 87
Appendix Chart 4: R&D Personnel by Performer Sector in New Brunswick as a Share of
Canada’s, 2013.......................................................................................................................... 893

Appendix Chart 5: Type of Non-Residential Investment in New Brunswick as a Share of
Canada’s, 1981-2018................................................................................................................. 89
Appendix Chart 6: Type of Investment as a Share of Total Investment in Intellectual Property
Products by Province, 2018 ....................................................................................................... 91
Appendix Chart 7: Type of Investment in Intellectual Property Products in New Brunswick as a
Share of Canada’s, 1981-2018 ................................................................................................... 92

4

Innovation in New Brunswick
Executive Summary
Innovation plays an important role in improving productivity. Strong innovation leads totechnological advancement and the creation and diffusion of new knowledge in firms, resulting
in higher productivity. As higher productivity leads to economic growth, innovation significantly
impacts economic development and living standards.
This report is the first part of a three-report series on the linkages between innovation andproductivity in New Brunswick, prepared for the Atlantic Institute for Policy Research at the
University of New Brunswick. Part one of this series examines the state of innovation in New
Brunswick, while part two examines productivity in the province. Lastly, part three assesses thelinks between innovation and productivity in New Brunswick and proposes recommendations toimprove the province’s innovation performance and its impact on productivity.
This report provides a comprehensive overview of the innovation situation in New
Brunswick. It examines the following seven indicators of innovation: R&D spending, R&D
personnel, patents, firm-based innovation statistics, non-residential fixed investment, investment
in intellectual property products, and business entry. For each indicator, we analyze levels andtrends in New Brunswick with comparisons to provincial and national data. We conclude that thestate of innovation in New Brunswick was weak relative to the other provinces, but has generally
improved since 1981.
Overall, New Brunswick ranked low among the provinces and below the national average
for all seven innovation indicators. New Brunswick had particularly poor results for business
R&D spending and personnel, patents, and firm-level innovation. Despite its weak performance
among the provinces, New Brunswick’s innovation situation has generally improved over time inabsolute terms and relative to the Canadian average. Five of seven indicators enjoyed an
improvement: R&D spending, R&D personnel, patents, firm-based innovation statistics, andinvestment in intellectual property products. Results for only two indicators—non-residential
fixed capital investment and number of active businesses—deteriorated.

Levels of Innovation
New Brunswick’s current state of innovation ranked among the weakest in Canada acrossindicators. The following are key statistics in the province’s levels of innovation:

5

•

R&D Spending – New Brunswick had $342 million (in current prices) or $446 per capita
in total R&D expenditures in 2017, ranking last among the provinces. New Brunswick
had 0.95 per cent R&D intensity, ranking ninth among the provinces. The province reliedmostly on the government and higher education sectors to perform R&D. R&D intensity
in the business and higher education sectors in New Brunswick both ranked poorly ateighth of the provinces. The government sector fared better, with New Brunswick
ranking fifth of the provinces in terms of R&D intensity.

•

R&D Personnel – New Brunswick had 2,280 R&D personnel in 2013, ranking eighth ofthe provinces. About 0.64 per cent of New Brunswick’s total employment worked in
R&D, which was the lowest share in Canada. All three performer sectors also had low
rankings in terms of R&D personnel as a share of total employment. The government andbusiness sectors ranked ninth of the provinces, while the higher education sector ranked
eighth.

•Patents – In 2016, New Brunswick had 35 patents granted by the USPTO, ranking eighthof the provinces. New Brunswick’s share of total patents granted in Canada was 0.7 per
cent.

•

Firm-Based Innovation – Atlantic Canada, a proxy for New Brunswick, ranked last for
all innovation statistics analyzed in this report. Between 2015 and 2017, 69.1 per cent offirms in Atlantic Canada were innovative, the smallest share of all the regions in Canada.
Similarly, firms in Atlantic Canada were the least likely compared to those in otherregions to implement any type of innovation (product, process, organizational,
marketing) or to use any advanced technology. The top reasons for not adopting
advanced technologies in Atlantic Canada include the following: advanced technologies
were not applicable to business operations; investing in technologies was not necessary
for their business; and firms were not convinced of their economic benefit.

•

Non-Residential Investment – In 2018, New Brunswick’s non-residential investment
was $5.12 billion or 13.8 per cent of nominal GDP, ranking seventh of the provinces.
New Brunswick also fared poorly in investment in engineering construction, ranking
sixth, and intellectual property products, ranking eighth. In contrast, the province ranked
an impressive third in investment in non-residential buildings and machinery andequipment.

•

Investment in Intellectual Property Products (IPP) – In 2018, New Brunswick’s
investment in IPP was $750 million or 2.0 per cent of nominal GDP. Of the three types,
software received the highest investment at $452 million or 1.22 per cent of nominal

6

GDP, ranking third. The other two types—mineral exploration and evaluation andresearch and development—fared significantly worse, both ranking eighth.
•Business Entry – In 2017, New Brunswick’s gross entry rate was 12.0 per cent of total
active firms, ranking ninth in Canada, while the province’s net entry rate was 0.2 per centof total active firms, ranking eighth. Seven of fifteen industries in New Brunswick had
negative net entry rates. Three industries with a negative net entry rate—manufacturing;professional, scientific, and technical services; and wholesale trade—were part of theInformation and Communication Technology sector, which is known to be highly
innovative.

Trends in Innovation
Despite current weak levels of innovation, New Brunswick enjoyed significant absoluteand relative improvement in most indicators of innovation over time. The following are key
trends in innovation indicators:•

R&D Spending – New Brunswick’s R&D expenditures increased 144 per cent from$125 million in 1981 to $304 million in 2017 (in constant 2012 dollars). This increase
was largely driven by significant improvements in the business and higher education
sectors (485 per cent and 448 per cent increases, respectively). Total R&D intensity
increased 0.41 percentage points from 0.54 per cent of nominal GDP in 1981 to 0.95 percent in 2017. For all sectors, New Brunswick’s R&D intensity remained below Canada’s
by 2018. However, New Brunswick’s total R&D intensity relative to Canada’s increased
10.8 percentage points from 46.4 per cent in 1981 to 57.2 per cent of Canada’s in 2017.
Over the period, the business and higher education sectors saw increases of 22.5
percentage points and 35.6 percentage points in R&D intensity relative to Canada’s,respectively, but the government sector experienced a decline of 25.4 percentage points.

•

R&D Personnel – Between 2000 and 2013, New Brunswick’s total R&D personnel
increased 30.3 per cent from 1,750 employees to 2,280 employees. Consistent with R&D
spending, the increase in total R&D personnel was concentrated in the business andhigher education sectors with increases of 26.3 per cent and 58.3 per cent, respectively.
Total R&D personnel as a share of total employment increased 0.12 percentage points
from 0.53 per cent in 2000 to 0.64 per cent in 2013. Over the period, total R&D
personnel as a share of total employment relative to Canada’s increased 2.5 percentage
points from 46.3 per cent of Canada’s in 2000 to 48.9 per cent in 2013. Similarly, thebusiness and higher education sectors experienced improvements of 1.7 percentage points
and 6.0 percentage points, respectively, but the government sector saw a significant
decrease of 19.1 percentage points.
7

•

Patents – The number of patents granted by the USPTO in New Brunswick grew animpressive 483.3 per cent from 6 patents in 1980 to 35 patents in 2016.

•

Firm-Based Innovation – Among the four regions in Canada, Atlantic Canada
experienced the greatest improvement in the share of innovative firms. The share ofinnovative firms increased by 23.3 percentage points from 45.8 per cent of total firms inthe 2010-2012 period to 69.1 per cent in 2015-2017 period.

•

Non-Residential Investment – Total non-residential investment in New Brunswick
increased 62.6 per cent from $2.76 billion in 1981 to $4.48 billion (constant 2012 dollars)in 2018; however, non-residential investment as a share of nominal GDP decreased by
6.9 percentage points from 20.7 per cent in 1981 to 13.8 per cent in 2018. Relative to
Canada’s, total non-residential investment as a share of nominal GDP in the province
decreased 15.6 percentage points from 108.2 per cent of Canada’s in 1981 to 92.6 percent of Canada’s in 2018. Similarly, investment relative to Canada’s in non-residentialbuildings, engineering construction, and machinery and equipment decreased by 10.5,
19.4, and 3.8 percentage points, respectively. In contrast, investment in intellectual
property products relative to Canada’s was the only type of investment to increase overthe period, growing 11.4 percentage points.

•

Investment in Intellectual Property Products (IPP) – New Brunswick’s investment in
IPP increased 216.2 per cent from $210 million in 1981 to $664 million (constant 2012
dollars) in 2018. IPP investment as a share of nominal GDP increased 0.92 percentage
points from 1.1 per cent in 1981 to 2.0 per cent in 2018. Similarly, investment as a shareof nominal GDP in R&D and software increased by 0.04 and 0.94 percentage points,
respectively, but investment in mineral exploration declined 0.05 percentage points.
Relative to Canada, however, investment as a share of nominal GDP in R&D andsoftware declined 0.56 percentage points and 7.56 percentage points from 1981 to 2018,
respectively, but investment in mineral exploration increased by 1.19 percentage points.

•

Business Entry – The number of businesses in New Brunswick declined by 8.5 per centfrom 24,920 businesses in 2002 to 22,790 businesses in 2017. Over the period, thenumber of businesses in New Brunswick decreased at a rate of 0.59 per cent per year, theworst rate among the provinces.

8

Barriers to Innovation
New Brunswick faces several barriers to innovation, which likely explain the province’s
relatively weak level of innovation. These barriers include financial issues, labour shortage
issues, and a lack of motivation among firms to innovate. The following are eight key barriers toinnovation in New Brunswick:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

Less R&D funding and access to capital compared to other provinces
Lack of collaboration between R&D performer sectors, particularly between the higher
education and business sectors
Low R&D intensity across business sector industries
Unfavourable industrial structure in conducting R&D (i.e. The province’s economy is notconcentrated in typically R&D intensive industries)
Disinterest among businesses in adopting new technologies
High costs of purchasing and implementing new technologies in firms
Uncompetitive business environment, due to high corporate taxes and rising business
costs
Population issues, including out-migration of young educated people and low
immigration flows

Given New Brunswick’s weak yet improving innovation performance, researchers andpolicymakers should address these barriers to further enhance the state of innovation in theprovince.

9

Innovation in New Brunswick 1
I.

Innovation Situation in New Brunswick

Innovation plays an important role in improving productivity. The Oslo Manual by theOECD (2018) defines innovation as any “new or improved product or process (or combination
thereof) that differs significantly from the unit’s previous products or processes.” 2 Innovation
activity consists of four types: product (a new or improved good or service), process (a new or
improved method of production or delivery), organizational (a new method in businesspractices), and marketing (a new marketing strategy).3 In effect, strong innovation leads totechnological advancement and the creation and diffusion of new knowledge in firms, resulting
in higher productivity. As higher productivity leads to economic growth, innovation significantly
impacts economic development and living standards. Given the important economic implicationsof innovation, the state of innovation in Canada and the provinces has been widely studied.4
This report, prepared for the Atlantic Institute for Policy Research at the University of
New Brunswick, is part one of a series on the linkages between innovation and productivity in
New Brunswick. This series consists of three parts. Part one examines the state of innovation in
New Brunswick, while part two examines the state of productivity in the province. Finally, part
three assesses the link between innovation and productivity in New Brunswick and proposes
recommendations to improve the province’s innovation performance and its impact on
productivity.
This first part provides a comprehensive overview of the innovation situation in New
Brunswick. It examines the following seven indicators of innovation: R&D spending, R&D
personnel, patents, firm-based innovation statistics, non-residential investment, investment in
intellectual property products, and business entry. For each indicator, we analyze levels and1

This report was written by CSLS economist Kimberly Wong under the supervision of Andrew Sharpe, CSLS
Executive Director. The author would like to thank Herb Emery for comments. The Centre for the Study of Living
Standards also acknowledges the financial support from the JDI Roundtable on Manufacturing Competitiveness in
New Brunswick and Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency support for the Atlantic Institute for Policy Research’s
research program on “Innovation as a Driver of Growth of the Regional Economy” at UNB.
Email: kimberlywong056@gmail.com
2
See Gault (2013) for more discussion on innovation definitions, indicators, and measurement.
3
The fourth edition of the Oslo Manual characterizes the types of innovation differently from previous editions. It
categorizes innovation as two major types (product and business process innovations) and characterizes marketingand organizational innovations as sub-categories. This report, however, refers to the four types of innovation as
defined by previous editions. Our analysis is based on data from Statistics Canada, which uses the four types.
4
For example, see Gault (2003) for studies on innovation in Canadian industry, Sharpe and Long (2012) for a study
on innovation in Canada’s natural resource industries, and Murray (2016) for a report on innovation policies in
Canada.

10

trends in New Brunswick with comparisons to provincial and national data.5 Lastly, a summaryof findings and literature review on the state of innovation in Atlantic Canada and New
Brunswick are presented.

A. R&D Spending
The Frascati Manual (2015) by the OECD defines research and development as “creativeand systematic work undertaken in order to increase the stock of knowledge ... and to devise new
applications of available knowledge.” Embodying innovation, R&D improves firm productivity.6
Higher R&D expenditures lead to the creation and diffusion of new technologies, products, andideas, which enhances the efficiency of firms. As a result, R&D spending is considered one of
the standard measures of innovation. In this subsection, we compare the R&D spending of New
Brunswick, the provinces, and Canada. In addition, we examine R&D spending by performer
sector, namely government, business, and higher education. 7i.

Cross-Sectional Analysis by Provincea. R&D Spending per Capita

Chart 1 shows provincial R&D spending per capita (in current dollars) by performer
sector in 2017.8 Total R&D spending in New Brunswick amounted to $342 million, equivalent to$446 per capita. Of all the performer sectors, the province spent the most on the higher education
sector at $187 million or $244 per capita. New Brunswick spent $111 million or $145 per capita
on the business sector, while it spent the least on the government sector at $39 million or $51 per
capita.

5

The data used in this report is from Statistics Canada. For the complete dataset used for our analysis, see thedatabase posted with this paper at http://www.csls.ca/reports/csls2020-08-data.xlsx.
6
See Tang and Wang (2019) for a study on the effects of R&D on firm productivity.
7
Statistics Canada provides estimates of R&D spending by funder (sources of R&D funding) and performer(receivers of R&D funding) sectors. This report analyzes R&D spending only by the performer sector. In addition,
Statistics Canada includes provincial research organizations and private non-profits as performer sectors, but thisreport does not discuss them, as they constitute only a small share of R&D spending
8
2017 is the last year for which provincial data on R&D spending are currently available. Refer to database Table 1
for estimates on R&D spending by performer sector and province.

11

Chart 1: R&D Spending per Capita by Performer Sector and Province, 2017
Panel A: Total R&D Spending
QuebecOntario
CanadaBritish Columbia
Newfoundland and Labrador
Alberta
Nova Scotia
Manitoba
Saskatchewan
Prince Edward Island
New Brunswick

1171
1089
978
846
801
776
684
636
574
538
446
0

200

400
600
800
1000
R&D Spending per Capita ($ / Provincial Population)

1200

1400

Panel B: Government
Prince Edward Island
Ontario
Manitoba
Nova Scotia
Saskatchewan
CanadaAlberta
New Brunswick
QuebecNewfoundland and Labrador
British Columbia

113
96
91
77
72

68
64
51
43
38
28

0

20

40
60
80
R&D Spending per Capita ($ / Provincial Population)

100

120

Panel C: Business
QuebecOntario
CanadaBritish Columbia
Alberta
Manitoba
Saskatchewan
Prince Edward Island
Nova Scotia
Newfoundland and Labrador
New Brunswick

692
581
511
481
357
216

188
166
158
155
145
0

100

200
300
400
500
600
R&D Spending per Capita ($ / Provincial Population)

12

700

800

Panel D: Higher Education
Newfoundland and Labrador
Nova Scotia
QuebecOntario
CanadaAlberta
British Columbia
Manitoba
Saskatchewan
Prince Edward Island
New Brunswick

606
449
434
413
392
356
337
330
300
253
244
0

100

200
300
400
500
R&D Spending per Capita ($ / Provincial Population)

600

Source: Statistics Canada, Table 27-10-0273-01 & Table 17-10-0005-01

For every performer sector, New Brunswick’s R&D spending per capita was low
compared to the other provinces (Chart 1). New Brunswick ranked last for total R&D spending
per capita, the business sector, and the higher education sector, while the province ranked
seventh for the government sector. For each sector, the top-ranking province exceeded New
Brunswick by a significant margin. For total R&D spending, Quebec’s R&D expenditures per
capita were 2.6 times higher than New Brunswick’s. Surprisingly, Prince Edward Island and
Newfoundland ranked first in the government and higher education sectors, respectively, whichindicates that New Brunswick fared poorly even among the Atlantic provinces. Prince Edward
Island’s R&D spending per capita in government and Newfoundland and Labrador’s in higher
education were about twice as much as New Brunswick’s in both sectors. Most significantly, forthe business sector, Quebec’s R&D spending per capita was 4.8 times higher than New
Brunswick’s. It is important to note that, in the business sector, the four Atlantic provinces had
the lowest R&D spending per capita.
As noted previously, New Brunswick’s R&D spending per capita was lower than
Canada’s for all performer sectors.9 The province had the strongest results in the government andhigher education sectors, spending 74.6 per cent and 62.2 per cent of Canada’s R&D spending
per capita. For the business sector, however, New Brunswick’s R&D spending per capita was
only 28.3 per cent of Canada’s.

9

Refer to Appendix Chart 1 for the R&D spending per capita in New Brunswick by performer sector as a share of
Canada’s in 2017.

13

700

b. R&D Intensity
R&D intensity is defined as R&D spending as a share of nominal GDP. Chart 2 compares
provincial R&D intensity by performer sector in 2017. New Brunswick spent 0.95 per cent of its
nominal GDP on research and development. Consistent with the findings for R&D spending per
capita, the province spent the most on the higher education sector at 0.52 per cent of its nominal
GDP. The business sector followed with 0.31 per cent of New Brunswick’s nominal GDP, while
the government sector had the smallest share of spending with 0.11 per cent.
Compared to the other provinces, New Brunswick’s total R&D intensity ranked among
the lowest (Chart 2). The province, however, fared better in R&D intensity than in R&D
spending per capita.10 New Brunswick had the second lowest total R&D spending, surpassing
only Saskatchewan by 0.12 percentage points. Compared to the other Atlantic provinces, New
Brunswick’s total R&D spending was significantly lower. For example, Prince Edward Island,
which had the second lowest R&D spending as a share of nominal GDP among the Atlantic
provinces, exceeded New Brunswick’s by 0.26 percentage points. Furthermore, Quebec andOntario, the provinces with the largest economies, spent the most on research and development,
exceeding New Brunswick’s spending as a share of nominal GDP by 1.37 and 0.90 percentage
points, respectively.
Across performer sectors New Brunswick’s R&D spending also consistently ranked low
among the provinces (Chart 2). New Brunswick’s R&D spending was below the national average
for all sectors. For both the business and higher education sectors, New Brunswick ranked
seventh of the ten provinces, and ranked among the lowest of the Atlantic provinces. For thebusiness sector, Quebec, which had the highest R&D spending performed by the business sector,
exceeded New Brunswick by 1.06 percentage points. The Atlantic provinces apart from New
Brunswick had relatively high R&D spending performed by the higher education sector; Nova
Scotia ranked first with 0.99 per cent of its nominal GDP, exceeding New Brunswick by 0.47
percentage points. Although New Brunswick was highly reliant on the higher education sector
for R&D, it spent significantly less on university-performed R&D compared to most provinces.
The government sector was the exception to New Brunswick’s relatively low R&D
expenditures. In contrast to the business and higher education sectors, New Brunswick ranked
fifth of the ten provinces for R&D spending performed by the government sector. Prince Edward
Island ranked first at 0.25 per cent of its nominal GDP, exceeding New Brunswick by 0.14
percentage points.

10

Among the provinces, New Brunswick never ranked last in terms of R&D intensity. This slight improvement in
R&D intensity compared to R&D per capita is likely due to the province’s relatively low nominal GDP. In 2017,
New Brunswick’s nominal GDP was 1.7 per cent of Canada’s, whereas the province’s population was 2.1 per centof Canada’s.

14

Chart 2: R&D Intensity by Performer Sector and Province, 2017
Panel A: Total R&D Spending
QuebecOntario
CanadaNova Scotia
British Columbia
Newfoundland and Labrador
Prince Edward Island
Manitoba
Alberta
New Brunswick
Saskatchewan

2.32
1.85
1.67

1.51
1.47
1.29
1.21
1.19
0.99
0.95

0.83
0.0

0.5

1.0
1.5
% of Nominal Provincial GDP

2.0

2.5

Panel B: Government
Prince Edward Island
Manitoba
Nova Scotia
Ontario
CanadaNew Brunswick
Saskatchewan
QuebecAlberta
Newfoundland and Labrador
British Columbia

0.25
0.17
0.17
0.16
0.12
0.11
0.10
0.09
0.08
0.06
0.05

0.00

0.05

0.10
0.15
0.20
% of Nominal Provincial GDP

0.25

0.30

Panel C: Business
QuebecOntario
CanadaBritish Columbia
Alberta
Manitoba
Prince Edward Island
Nova Scotia
New Brunswick
Saskatchewan
Newfoundland and Labrador

1.37
0.99
0.87
0.84
0.46
0.41
0.37
0.35
0.31
0.27
0.25
0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6
0.8
1.0
% of Nominal Provincial GDP

15

1.2

1.4

1.6

Panel D: Higher Education
Nova Scotia
Newfoundland and Labrador
QuebecOntario
CanadaManitoba
British Columbia
Prince Edward Island
New Brunswick
Alberta
Saskatchewan

0.99
0.98
0.86
0.70
0.67
0.62
0.59
0.57
0.52
0.45
0.43
0.0

0.2

0.4
0.6
0.8
% of Nominal Provincial GDP

1.0

Source: Statistics Canada, Table 27-10-0273-01 and Table 36-10-0222-01

c. Relative Importance of Each Performer Sector to Total R&D Spending
Chart 3 compares the R&D spending by performer sector as a share of total R&D
spending by province in 2017. Of the three performer sectors in New Brunswick, higher
education had the highest share of total R&D spending for the province, performing 54.7 percent of New Brunswick’s total R&D expenditures.11 The business sector followed with 32.5 percent of total R&D spending. The government sector ranked last with 11.4 per cent of total R&D
spending in New Brunswick.
New Brunswick ranked relatively high for the government and higher education sectors
in total R&D spending, surpassing the Canadian average (Chart 3). The province ranked fourthfor the government sector and third for the higher education sector. The other Atlantic provinces
also had relatively large shares of total R&D spending for these sectors. Prince Edward Island
had the largest share of total R&D spending performed by the government sector at 21.0 per
cent, exceeding New Brunswick by 9.6 percentage points. For the higher education sector,
Newfoundland and Labrador had the largest share at 75.7 per cent, exceeding New Brunswick by
21.0 per cent.
However, the Atlantic provinces had the lowest shares of total R&D spending performedby the business sector (Chart 3). New Brunswick ranked seventh, though it had the highest shareof the Atlantic provinces. Most notably, Quebec and Ontario were among the highest for thebusiness sector at 59.1 per cent and 53.3 per cent of total R&D spending, respectively, butranked among the lowest for the other sectors. The provinces with the highest total R&D
spending, thus, concentrated much of those expenditures in the business sector, while the11

According to the Global Advantage Consulting Group (2019), the University of New Brunswick was responsible
for about 70 per cent of the R&D performed by the higher education sector in the province in 2016.

16

1.2

Atlantic provinces spent more of their total R&D expenditures on the government and higher
education sectors.
Chart 3: R&D Spending in Canada by Performer Sector as a Share of Total R&D Spending by
Province, 2017
Panel A: Government
Prince Edward Island
Manitoba
Saskatchewan
New Brunswick
Nova Scotia
Ontario
AlbertaCanada
Newfoundland and Labrador
QuebecBritish Columbia

21.0
14.3
12.6
11.4
11.2
8.8
8.2
7.0
4.7
3.7
3.3
0

5

10
15
Share of Total Provincial R&D Spending

20

25

Panel B: Business
QuebecBritish Columbia
Ontario
CanadaAlberta
Manitoba
Saskatchewan
New Brunswick
Prince Edward Island
Nova Scotia
Newfoundland and Labrador

59.1
56.8
53.3
52.3
45.9
34.0
32.7
32.5
30.9
23.1
19.4
0

10

20
30
40
50
Share of Total Provincial R&D Spending

60

70

Panel C: Higher Education
Newfoundland and Labrador
Nova Scotia
New Brunswick
Saskatchewan
Manitoba
Prince Edward Island
AlbertaCanadaBritish Columbia
Ontario
Quebec

75.7
65.7
54.7
52.2
51.8
46.9
45.9
40.1
39.8
37.9
37.1
0

10

20

30
40
50
Share of Total Provincial R&D Spending

Source: Statistics Canada, Table 27-10-0273-01

17

60

70

80

ii.

Cross-Sectional Analysis by Industry in New Brunswick and Canada

The previous subsections confirmed New Brunswick’s weak performance in R&D
spending compared to the other provinces. This subsection attempts to explain New Brunswick’s
low R&D spending. Two reasons could account for these low R&D expenditures. First, New
Brunswick could have low R&D intensity across all industries relative to Canada. Second, New
Brunswick’s industrial structure may not be conducive to R&D; the province may have few
industries that are typically R&D intensive. To determine the factors behind New Brunswick’s
weak R&D spending, this subsection first provides an overview of R&D expenditures, value
added, and R&D intensity by industry in Canada and New Brunswick. Finally, we assess the two
possible reasons.
Table 1 shows Canada’s business R&D expenditures by industry in 2016 (in current
dollars).12 In Canada, the information and communications technology (ICT) sector comprised$6.9 billion or 38 per cent of its total R&D expenditures. 13 In the ICT sector, services-producing
ICT had a larger share of R&D spending than manufacturing ICT (34.1 per cent vs. 3.6 per cent).
Following the ICT sector, the non-ICT services-producing and manufacturing sectors had thelargest shares of spending. These three sectors—ICT, non-ICT services-producing industries,
and non-ICT manufacturing—comprised 94.5 per cent of total business R&D spending.
Table 1 also shows New Brunswick’s business R&D expenditures by industry in 2016 (incurrent dollars).14 The business sector spent the most on the services-producing industries at $93
million or 69.9 per cent of total business R&D spending.15 The ICT sector comprised $78 million
or 58.6 per cent of its total business R&D expenditures. Of the sectors listed, New Brunswick
had the smallest shares of R&D spending in construction (0.0 per cent of total business R&D
spending) and utilities (0.8 per cent of total business R&D spending).

12

Refer to database Table 3 for estimates on R&D expenditures and value added by industry in Canada and New
Brunswick.
13
The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) does not include a separate industry for the ICT
sector. The ICT sector is a composite of several NAICS industries. Statistics Canada Table 27-10-0333-01 andTable 27-10-0341-01 define the ICT sector as ICT-related industries from the manufacturing and services-producing
businesses sectors.
14
Data on R&D expenditures by province was restricted for several industries between 2014 and 2017. We included
an additional sector, “Other sectors”, by subtracting the R&D expenditures of utilities, construction, and servicesproducing industries from total business R&D expenditures in New Brunswick. We also included “Other sectors”
for Canada for comparison. We chose the reference year 2016, as data for nominal value added by province andindustry is only available up to 2016.
15
Note that there is overlap between the services-producing industries and the ICT sector (i.e. Services-producing
industries include those in the ICT sector, and the ICT sector includes services-producing industries).

18

Table 1: Business R&D Expenditures by Industry in Canada and New Brunswick, 2016
Panel A: Canada
Current dollars(Millions)Shares of R&D

Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting

155

0.008

Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction

830

0.044

Utilities

386

0.021

Construction

96

0.005

Manufacturing (total = non-ICT + ICT)

6,680

0.357

6,023

0.322

Services-producing industries (total = non-ICT + ICT)

10,576

0.565

Services-producing industries (non-ICT)
Other sectors (including agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting;mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction; and total manufacturing)

4,355

0.233

7,665

0.409

Information and communication technology (ICT) sector

6,878

0.367

657

0.035

6,221

0.332

18,723

1.00

Current dollars(Millions)Shares of R&D

Industry
Utilities

1

0.008

Construction

0

0.00

Services-producing industries
Other sectors (including agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting;mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction; and total manufacturing)

93

0.699

39

0.293

Information and communication technology (ICT) sector

78

0.586

Total business sector industries

133

1.00

Industry

Manufacturing (non-ICT)

Information and communication technology - Manufacturing
Information and communication technology - Servicesproducing industries
Total business sector industries

Panel B: New Brunswick

Source: Statistics Canada, Table 27-10-0333-01 & Table 27-10-0341-01

Table 2 shows Canada’s and New Brunswick’s nominal value added in the businesssector in 2016. Canada and New Brunswick had similar shares of value added in most industries.
Canada had its highest value added in the non-ICT services-producing sector at $800 billion or
58.3 per cent of its total value added. Following this industry, non-ICT manufacturing (14.4 percent of total value added) and construction (10.5 per cent of total value added) had the largest
shares. Similarly, New Brunswick’s non-ICT services-producing sector had the largest share at
58.4 per cent of total value added, followed by non-ICT manufacturing (15.4 per cent of total
value added) and construction (9.8 per cent of total value added). Both had small shares in the
ICT sector: Canada with 5.6 per cent of total value added, and New Brunswick with 5.1 per centof total value added.
Major differences in shares of value added were concentrated in natural resource
industries. Canada had its smallest share in agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting at 2.7 per
19

cent of total value added, which was half of New Brunswick’s share in this industry. Similarly,
New Brunswick had its smallest share in mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction at 1.5 percent of total value added, whereas Canada’s share was 5.5 per cent of total value added.
Table 2: Nominal Value Added (VA) in Canada and New Brunswick, 2016

Panel A: Absolute Values
CanadaIndustry

New Brunswick

Current Dollars (Millions)
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting

36,805

1,081

Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction

76,103294

Utilities

40,899908

Construction

144,018

1,970

Manufacturing (total = non-ICT + ICT)

201,058

3,119

197,670

3,111

Services-producing industries (total = non-ICT + ICT)873,727

12,816

Services-producing industries (non-ICT)
Other sectors (including agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting;mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction; and total manufacturing)

800,861

11,786

313,965

4,494

Information and communication technology (ICT) sector

76,253

1,039

3,388

8.6

72,866

1,030

1,372,610

20,188CanadaNew Brunswick

Manufacturing (non-ICT)

Information and communication technology - Manufacturing
Information and communication technology - Servicesproducing industries
Total business sector industries

Panel B: Shares of VA
Industry

VA in Industry / Total Business Sector VA
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting

0.027

0.054

Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction

0.055

0.015

Utilities

0.030

0.045

Construction

0.105

0.098

Manufacturing (total = non-ICT + ICT)

0.146

0.155

0.144

0.154

Services-producing industries (total = non-ICT + ICT)

0.637

0.635

Services-producing industries (non-ICT)
Other sectors (including agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting;mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction; and total manufacturing)

0.583

0.584

0.229

0.223

Information and communication technology (ICT) sector

0.056

0.051

0.002

0.000420.0531

0.05101.00

1.00

Manufacturing (non-ICT)

Information and communication technology - Manufacturing
Information and communication technology - Servicesproducing industries
Total business sector industries

Source: Statistics Canada, Table 36-10-0480-01

20

Table 3 shows Canada’s R&D intensity by industry in 2016. In Canada, for total businesssector industries, 1.3 per cent of total value added was spent on R&D. The most R&D intensive
sector was the ICT sector at 9.0 per cent of value added; manufacturing ICT was particularly
R&D intensive at 19.4 per cent of value added. Following the ICT sector, non-ICT servicesproducing ICT had a R&D intensity of 3.3 per cent of value added. The least R&D intensive
sector was the construction sector at 0.07 per cent of value added.
Table 3 also shows New Brunswick’s R&D intensity in 2016. The province’s total R&D
intensity in the business sector was 0.66 per cent of its total value added, approximately half ofCanada’s. Similar to Canada, the ICT sector was most R&D intensive in New Brunswick at 7.5
per cent of value added. Services-producing industries and other sectors followed with 0.73 percent and 0.60 per cent of total value added, respectively. New Brunswick’s R&D intensity was
below the Canadian average for all industries for which data is available.
Table 3: R&D intensity in Canada and New Brunswick, 2016
Panel A: Canada
R&D Spending by Industry / VA by Industry

Industry
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting

0.0042Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction

0.0109

Utilities

0.0094

Construction

0.0007

Manufacturing (total = non-ICT + ICT)

0.03320.0305

Manufacturing (non-ICT)
Services-producing industries (total = non-ICT + ICT)

0.0121Services-producing industries (non-ICT)
Other sectors (including agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting;mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction; and total manufacturing)

0.0054

Information and communication technology (ICT) sector

0.0902

Information and communication technology - Manufacturing
Information and communication technology - Servicesproducing industries

0.02440.19390.08540.0136

Total business sector industries

Panel B: New Brunswick
Industry

R&D Spending by Industry / VA by Industry

Utilities

0.0011

Construction

0.00

Services-producing industries
Other sectors (including agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting;mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction; and total manufacturing)

0.0073

Information and communication technology (ICT) sector

0.0751

Total business sector industries

0.0066

Source: Calculated from Tables 1 & 2

210.0060As data on R&D expenditures for New Brunswick are restricted for several industries, we
calculate these data by assuming that New Brunswick and Canada have the same R&D intensity
in each sector (Table 4). These estimates also indicate whether low R&D intensity in New
Brunswick compared to Canada could explain the province’s low R&D spending. New
Brunswick’s total business R&D expenditures are estimated to be $273.4 million. The province
would have spent most of its R&D expenditures in the ICT sector ($93.7 million), particularly
services-producing ICT ($88.0 million).
As discussed previously in Table 1, the business sector in New Brunswick spent $133
million on R&D in 2016. Therefore, the estimated value of $273.4 million, assuming that New
Brunswick and Canada had the same R&D intensity in each industry, was twice the actual value
in 2016. Estimates for the R&D intensive sectors were significantly larger than their respective
true values. For examples, the estimated value for the ICT sector was 20.1 per cent higher than
the actual value of $78 million in 2016. These large discrepancies suggest that significant
differences in R&D intensity between New Brunswick and Canada could explain New
Brunswick’s weak performance in business R&D spending.
Table 4: Estimated R&D Expenditures in New Brunswick by Industry, 2016
Current Dollars (Millions)

SectorAgriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting

4.6

Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction

3.2

Utilities

8.6

Construction

1.3

Manufacturing (total)

103.6

Manufacturing (non-ICT)

94.8

Services-producing industries (total)

155.1

Services-producing industries (non-ICT)
Other sectors (including agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting;mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction; and total manufacturing)

64.1
109.7
93.7

Information and communication technology (ICT) sector
Information and communication technology - Manufacturing
Information and communication technology - Servicesproducing industries

1.7
88.0
273.4

Total business sector industries

Note: Estimates were calculated by multiplying New Brunswick’s value added by Canada’s R&D intensity[R&D (NB) = VA (NB) * R&D / VA (CAN)]As Canada and New Brunswick have similar shares of value added across two-digit levelindustries, differences in industrial structure between Canada and New Brunswick appear
unlikely to account for New Brunswick’s low business R&D expenditures at this level ofdisaggregation. However, Canada and New Brunswick have different shares of value added for22more specific industries at the three- and four-digit level—many of which are highly R&D
intensive industries (Table 5). The manufacturing sector accounted for 32.9 per cent of Canada’s
business R&D spending in 2018. The most R&D intensive industries at the third-digit level inthis sector were computer and electronic product manufacturing (19.1 per cent R&D intensity),machinery manufacturing (0.05 R&D per VA), transportation equipment manufacturing (4.5 percent R&D intensity), and chemical manufacturing (3.9 per cent R&D intensity). In Canada, thesefour industries accounted for 23.7 per cent of its total business R&D and 72.2 per cent of its
R&D spending in manufacturing. In each of these industries, New Brunswick’s shares of
nominal value added in 2016 were much lower than Canada’s, which suggests significant
differences in industrial structure. In Canada, the four R&D intensive industries in the
manufacturing sector comprised 5.3 per cent of nominal value added in the business sector; New
Brunswick’s nominal value added was only one-sixth of Canada’s.
Similarly, Canada and New Brunswick have different shares of value added in the mostR&D intensive industries in the services-producing sector. Canada’s services-producing
industries were important contributors of R&D, representing 60.2 per cent of total business R&D
spending in 2018. In particular, three industries constituted 92.2 per cent of R&D spending in theservices-producing businesses sector: professional, scientific, and technical services; informationand cultural industries; and wholesale trade. However, consistent with the results in the
manufacturing sector, these industries are less significant in New Brunswick than in Canada. In
2016, these three industries constituted 19.6 per cent of business sector value added in Canada,
whereas they comprised 14.4 per cent of value added in New Brunswick. The province’s
economy is, therefore, not concentrated in R&D intensive industries. These findings suggest that
New Brunswick’s industrial structure was a major factor in the province’s underperformance in
R&D.
Table 5: R&D Spending in Canada (2018) and Nominal Value Added in Canada and New
Brunswick (2016)

0.01289

New
Brunswick
Shares of
VA
2016
1.00

0.02680.00486

0.05360.0356

0.05540.008270.0145318

0.01800.02980.007780.0450Construction

94

0.00530.10490.00065

0.0976

Manufacturing (Total)

5,813

0.32860.14650.02891

0.1545

Manufacturing (Non-ICT)

5,110

0.28880.14400.025850.1541

Food manufacturing168

0.00950.01850.00661

0.0392

CanadaR&D(Millions)2018
17,692

Shares of
R&D
2018
1.00

Shares of
VA
2016
1.00

179

0.0101Mining and oil and gas extraction

629

Utilities

Sectors
Total business sector industries
Agriculture, forestry, fishing andhunting

23

R&D/VA0.00721

New
Brunswick
Shares ofVA
2016
0.01980.00630.017430.02460.00310.00320.012340.0005800

0.04520.01480.039280.0015478

0.02700.00400.08775

0.00

323

0.01830.01090.021650.0015

Plastic product manufacturingNon-metallic mineral productmanufacturing158

0.00890.00630.018200.004441

0.00230.00450.00667

0.0036

Primary metal manufacturing
Fabricated metal productmanufacturing174

0.00980.00810.015630.0017193

0.01090.01110.012640.0077

Machinery manufacturing
Computer and electronic
product manufacturing
Computer andperipheral equipment
manufacturing
Communications
equipment
manufacturing
Transportation equipment
manufacturing
Motor vehicle, motor
vehicle body andtrailer and motor
vehicle parts
manufacturing
Aerospace productand parts
manufacturing744

0.04210.01040.052360.00381,191

0.06730.00450.190790.001178

0.00440.00020.24822

0.000

309

0.01750.00110.20204

0.000006

1,464

0.08270.02370.04500

0.0022330

0.01870.01470.01632

0.0008863

0.04880.0066

0.095540.0003

10,6560.60230.63650.012200.63484,408

0.2492

0.58350.00550

0.5838Wholesale trade

1,730

0.09780.07300.017270.0501Retail trade

84

0.00470.07140.00086

0.0942

CanadaR&D(Millions)2018
72

Shares of
R&D
2018
0.0041

Shares ofVA
2016
0.0073Paper manufacturing
Printing and related support
activities

150

0.008554

Chemical manufacturing
Pharmaceutical andmedicine
manufacturing
All other chemical
manufacturing

Sectors
Wood product manufacturing

Service-producing businesses (Total)
Service-producing businesses(Non-ICT)

24

R&D/VACanadaNew
Brunswick
Shares of
VA
2016

R&D
(Millions)2018

Shares of
R&D
2018

Shares of
VA
2016

R&D/VA

2,264

0.12800.04120.04004

0.0423972

0.05490.00480.146310.0013

1,037

0.05860.02720.02780

0.0368300

0.01700.15550.001410.13185,832

0.32960.0816

0.05209

0.0514457

0.02580.01670.019880.0121

1,811

0.10240.00390.341080.00123,276

0.18520.0211

0.11327

0.0129930.00530.04010.00169

0.0626

6,951

0.39290.0556

0.09116

0.0515703
0.0397
ICT - Manufacturing
ICT - Services-producing
6,248
0.3532
Industries
Other industries (Including agriculture,
forestry, fishing, and hunting; mining
6,624
0.3744and oil and gas extraction; andmanufacturing)
Source: Statistics Canada, Table 27-10-0333-01 & Table 36-10-0480-01

0.00250.207510.00040.05310.08575

0.05100.22870.021100.2226

Sectors
Information and culturalindustries
Software publishers
Telecommunications and dataprocessing, hosting, andrelated services
Finance, insurance and realestate and rental and leasing
Professional, scientific andtechnical services
Architectural,engineering andrelated services
Scientific researchand development
services
Computer systems
design and related
services
Administrative and support,
waste management andremediation services
ICT Sector

25

iii.

Trends in New Brunswick
a. R&D Spending

In New Brunswick, R&D spending in current dollars for all performer sectors
increased from 1981 to 2017 (Chart 4). Total R&D spending increased from $37 million to$342 million (in current prices) in 2017. In constant 2012 prices, total R&D spending grew
143.6 per cent from $125 million in 1981 to $304 million in 2017 (Chart 5).16 Similarly, incurrent prices, government R&D spending rose from $22 million in 1981 to $39 million in2017, and higher education R&D spending rose from $9 million in 1981 to $187 million in2017.
The business sector also saw a substantial increase, rising from $5 million to $111
million in 2017, but experienced more volatility compared to the other sectors; in particular,
business R&D spending rose from 1981 to 1989 but decreased sharply until 1995.

400
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0

1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017

Current Prices in Millions

Chart 4: R&D Spending by Performer Sector in New Brunswick, Current Dollars, 1981-2017
Panel A: Total R&D Spending

60
50
40
30
20
10
0

1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017

Current Prices in Millions

Panel B: Government

16

Refer to database Table 2 for absolute R&D spending over time by performer sector in current and constant 2012
prices.

26

1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017

2012 Constant Dollars inMillions
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017

Current Prices in Millions

1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017

Current Prices in Millions

Panel C: Business
140

120

100

80

60

40

20

0

Panel D: Higher Education

200

150

100

50

0

Source: Statistics Canada, Table 27-10-0273-01

Chart 5: Total R&D Spending by Performer Sector in New Brunswick, Constant 2012 Dollars,
1981-2017
400

350

300

250

200

150

100

50

0

Source: Statistics Canada, Table 27-10-0273-01 & Table 36-10-0098-01

27

b. R&D Intensity
New Brunswick’s R&D intensity increased between 1981 and 2017 across mostperformer sectors (Chart 6).17 Total R&D intensity increased by 0.41 percentage points from0.54 per cent of nominal GDP in 1981 to 0.95 per cent in 2017. R&D spending performed by thehigher education sector increased by 0.38 percentage points from 0.14 per cent of nominal GDP
in 1981 to 0.52 per cent in 2017, while R&D spending performed by the business sector grew by
0.23 percentage points from 0.08 per cent of nominal GDP in 1981 to 0.31 per cent in 2017.
However, the government sector saw a decline over the period; R&D spending performed by this
sector decreased by 0.22 percentage points from 0.33 per cent of nominal GDP in 1981 to 0.11
per cent in 2017.

% of Nominal GDP

Chart 6: R&D Intensity by Performer Sector in Canada and New Brunswick, 1981-2017
Panel A: Total R&D Spending
2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5

1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017

0.0

New Brunswick

Canada

0.4
0.35
0.3
0.25
0.2
0.15
0.1
0.05
0

1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017

% of Nominal GDP

Panel B: Government

New Brunswick

17

CanadaNote that due to inflation and economic growth, R&D intensity is a better measure of R&D trends than absolute
R&D spending.

28Panel C: Business% of Nominal GDP

1.4
1.2
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2

1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017

0

New Brunswick

Canada

0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0

1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017

% of Nominal GDP

Panel D: Higher Education

New Brunswick

CanadaSource: Statistics Canada, Table 27-10-0273-01, Table 36-10-0222-01, & Table 36-10-0104-01

c. R&D Intensity Relative to Canada’s

Although New Brunswick’s upward trend in R&D intensity is encouraging, it isimportant to consider how the province’s R&D intensity compared to the national average overtime. Chart 7 shows New Brunswick’s R&D intensity relative to Canada’s from 1981 to 2017.
New Brunswick’s R&D intensity was almost always below Canada’s for each performer sector
for the entire period, except the government sector in eight years. By 2017, New Brunswick’s
R&D intensity in all performer sectors remained below Canada’s. The government sector had thehighest relative R&D spending in New Brunswick at 93.5 per cent of Canada’s, while the higher
education sector followed with 77.9 per cent of Canada’s. The business sector had the lowest
relative R&D spending in New Brunswick at 35.5 per cent of Canada’s, which may have driven
the province’s low total R&D intensity relative to Canada’s at 57.2 per cent.
As noted previously, the province’s business R&D spending saw a notable increase in the
1980s. R&D intensity relative to Canada also increased during this period, peaking at 83.4 percent in 1989. This increase in business R&D in the 1980s is likely linked with the height of29

NBTel, the province’s major telecommunications corporation at the time.18 However, between
1990 and 2018, the province’s R&D intensity relative to Canada’s never again came close to its
peak level, averaging only 30.4 per cent of Canada’s. Additional research is required todetermine why the province was unable to maintain its progress in business R&D from the
1980s.

120

100
80
60
40
20

0
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017

% of Canada's R&D Spending
as a Share of Nominal GDP

Chart 7: R&D Intensity by Performer Sector in New Brunswick Relative to Canada’s, 1981-2017
Panel A: Total R&D Spending

New Brunswick

Canada (= 100)

140
120
100
80
60
40
20

0
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017

% of Canada's R&D Spending
as a Share of Nominal GDP

Panel B: Government

New Brunswick

18

Canada (= 100)

NBTel was a major driver of innovation and entrepreneurship in New Brunswick until it was merged with Bell in2006 (Emery, 2020a., “From living lab to living museum”).

30

120
100
80
60
40
20
0

1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017

% of Canada's R&D Spending
as a Share of Nominal GDP

Panel C: Business

New Brunswick

Canada (= 100)

110
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30

1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017

% of Canada's R&D Spending
as a Share of Nominal GDP

Panel D: Higher Education

New Brunswick

Canada (= 100)

Source: Statistics Canada, Table 27-10-0273-01, Table 36-10-0222-01, & Table 36-10-0104-01

While New Brunswick’s R&D intensity for all performer sectors remained lower than
Canada’s by the end of the period, the province’s R&D intensity relative to Canada’s did
increase from 1981 to 2017 for the total, business, and higher education sectors (Chart 7). Total
R&D spending in New Brunswick relative to Canada’s increased by 10.8 percentage points from46.4 per cent of Canada’s in 1981 to 57.2 per cent in 2017. After peaking in 1989 at 83.4 per centof Canada’s, relative R&D spending performed by the business sector in New Brunswick
declined to 35.5 per cent in 2017, which exceeded the level in 1981 by 22.5 percentage points.
New Brunswick’s relative R&D spending performed by the higher education sector increased
even more substantially over this period. R&D spending in the higher education sector in New
Brunswick relative to Canada’s increased by 35.6 percentage points from 42.3 per cent of
Canada’s in 1981 to 77.9 per cent in 2017.
In contrast, New Brunswick’s relative R&D spending in the government sector declined
from 1981 to 2017. In 1981, relative R&D spending was 118.9 per cent of Canada’s, which was
the highest in the period. By 2017, New Brunswick’s relative R&D spending for the government
sector was 93.5 per cent of Canada’s, marking a 25.4 percentage-point decrease from the
beginning of the period.
31New Brunswick was not a major player in Canada’s R&D spending in 2017. New
Brunswick’s total R&D spending comprised only 0.96 per cent of Canada’s.19 This share wasless than half of the province’s share of the national population in 2017 at 2.1 per cent. Of theperformer sectors, New Brunswick’s R&D spending performed by the government sector had thelargest share at 1.57 per cent of Canada’s. The higher education sector followed with 1.30 per
cent of Canada’s. New Brunswick’s R&D spending performed by the business sector had thesmallest share at 0.59 per cent of Canada’s, which is consistent with the province’s lowest
relative R&D spending in this sector.
New Brunswick’s R&D spending as a share of Canada’s generally increased over theperiod. For total R&D spending, New Brunswick’s share of Canada’s increased by 0.12
percentage point from 0.84 per cent of Canada’s in 1981 to 0.96 per cent in 2017. The higher
education sector had the largest increase at 0.54 percentage point from 0.76 per cent of Canada’s
in 1981 to 1.3 per cent in 2017. New Brunswick’s R&D spending performed by the businesssector as a share of Canada’s also increased, though less substantially by 0.36 percentage pointfrom 0.24 per cent in 1981 to 0.59 per cent in 2017. This level in 2017 was much lower than
New Brunswick’s peak share in 1989 at 1.67 per cent of Canada’s. In contrast to the othersectors, the government sector declined by 0.58 percentage point from 2.15 per cent of Canada’s
in 1981 to 1.57 per cent in 2017. These trends for each sector are consistent with the trends for
New Brunswick’s R&D spending relative to Canada’s.

19

Refer to Appendix Chart 2 for New Brunswick’s R&D spending as a share of Canada’s from 1981 to 2017.

32

B. R&D Personnel
i. Cross-Sectional Analysis by Provincea. R&D Personnel
R&D personnel is another standard indicator of innovation. Statistics Canada (2013)
defines R&D personnel as researchers, technicians, and support staff working in research anddevelopment. Chart 8 shows the R&D personnel in Canada by performer sector in each province
in 2013.20 New Brunswick had 2,280 personnel working in R&D. Most of the province’s R&D
personnel worked in the higher education sector (1,330 employees). New Brunswick’s businesssector had 720 R&D personnel, while the government sector had the least with 240 R&D
employees.21
Chart 8: R&D Personnel by Performer Sector and Province, 2013
Panel A: Total R&D Personnel
CanadaOntario
QuebecBritish Columbia
Alberta
Saskatchewan
Manitoba
Nova Scotia
New Brunswick
Newfoundland and Labrador
Prince Edward Island

232.9
101.9
66.8
25.6
20.5

5.2
5.0
3.1
2.3
2.0
0.5
0

50

100
150
R&D Personnel (Thousands)

20

200

Statistics Canada only provides provincial level data up to the reference year 2013. Due to a redesign in the
database, data for R&D personnel are no longer available by province. Recent R&D personnel data up to 2019 is
only available for Canada.
21
New Brunswick spent $126,754 (in current dollars) of R&D spending per R&D employee in 2013. The province
spent the most on the government and higher education sectors with $150,000 per person and $134,586 per person,
respectively. It spent the least on the business sector at $98,611 per person. Refer to Appendix Chart 3 for R&D
spending per R&D employee by performer sector and province in 2013.

33

250

Panel B: Government
CanadaOntario
QuebecAlberta
Saskatchewan
British Columbia
Manitoba
Nova Scotia
New Brunswick
Newfoundland and Labrador
Prince Edward Island

18.1
10.0
3.2
1.6
0.81
0.8
0.8
0.46
0.2
0.2
0.1
0

2

4

6

8
10
12
R&D Personnel (Thousands)

14

16

18

20

Panel C: Business
CanadaOntario
QuebecBritish Columbia
Alberta
Manitoba
Saskatchewan
Nova Scotia
New Brunswick
Newfoundland and Labrador
Prince Edward Island

138.6
63.7
43.2
16.0
10
1.9
1.5
0.81
0.7
0.5
0.2
0

20

40

60
80
100
R&D Personnel (Thousands)

120

140

160

Panel D: Higher Education
CanadaOntario
QuebecAlberta
British Columbia
Saskatchewan
Manitoba
Nova Scotia
New Brunswick
Newfoundland and Labrador
Prince Edward Island

74.7
28.2
20.5

8.9
8.8
2.8
2.3
1.84
1.3
1.3
0.2
0

10

20

30
40
50
R&D Personnel (Thousands)

60

70

Source: Statistics Canada, Table 27-10-0023-01

New Brunswick’s R&D personnel, and the Atlantic provinces in general, had few R&D
personnel relative to the other provinces (Chart 8). New Brunswick ranked eighth for every
performer sector, due to its relatively small population. The province’s R&D personnel in every
sector only exceeded those of Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island.
34

80

b. R&D Personnel as a Share of Total Employment
Chart 9 compares the number of R&D personnel as a share of total employment byperformer sector in every province in 2013. New Brunswick had 0.64 per cent of its total
employment working in R&D. The province had its largest share of employees in the higher
education sector at 0.38 per cent of its total employment, followed by the business sector at 0.20
per cent and government at 0.07 per cent.
For total R&D personnel, New Brunswick had the lowest share among the provinces(Chart 9). The other Atlantic provinces also had relatively low shares of total R&D personnel.
Quebec and Ontario ranked the highest with 1.64 per cent and 1.49 per cent of their total
employment, respectively, exceeding New Brunswick by 1.0 and 0.85 percentage points,
respectively. The Western Provinces followed Quebec and Ontario, but fared better than the
Atlantic provinces.
Among the three performer sectors New Brunswick’s number of R&D personnel as ashare of total employment also ranked low (Chart 9). For the higher education sector, New
Brunswick ranked eighth of the ten provinces, and was the second lowest of the Atlantic
provinces. Newfoundland and Labrador ranked first in the higher education sector with 0.53 percent of its total employed as R&D personnel, exceeding New Brunswick by 0.15 percentage
points. For the business sector, New Brunswick fared relatively worse, ranking ninth among theprovinces and exceeding only Nova Scotia by 0.02 percentage points. Quebec, which had thehighest share of R&D personnel in the business sector, topped New Brunswick by 0.86
percentage points. Finally, New Brunswick ranked ninth among the provinces in the government
sector, and fared the worst among the Atlantic provinces. New Brunswick’s R&D personnel inthe government sector as a share of total employment was 0.08 percentage points lower than
Ontario, the highest ranked province with 0.15 per cent of its total employment as R&D
personnel in the government sector.

35

Chart 9: R&D Personnel by Performer Sector as a Share of Total Employment by Province, 2013
Panel A: Total R&D Personnel
QuebecOntario
CanadaBritish Columbia
Alberta
Saskatchewan
Newfoundland and Labrador
Manitoba
Prince Edward Island
Nova Scotia
New Brunswick

1.64
1.49
1.32
1.13
0.92
0.91
0.81
0.80
0.69
0.68
0.64
0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
% of Total Provincial Employment

1.4

1.6

1.8

Panel B: Government
Ontario
Saskatchewan
Manitoba
Prince Edward Island
CanadaNova Scotia
QuebecAlberta
Newfoundland and Labrador
New Brunswick
British Columbia

0.15
0.14
0.12
0.12
0.10
0.10
0.08
0.07
0.07
0.07
0.03

0.00

0.02

0.04

0.06
0.08
0.10
% of Total Provincial Employment

0.12

0.14

0.16

Panel C: Business
QuebecOntario
CanadaBritish Columbia
Alberta
Manitoba
Prince Edward Island
Saskatchewan
Newfoundland and Labrador
New Brunswick
Nova Scotia

1.06
0.93
0.78
0.71
0.45
0.30
0.30
0.27
0.21
0.20
0.18
0.0

0.2

0.4
0.6
0.8
% of Total Provincial Employment

36

1.0

1.2

Panel D: Higher Education
Newfoundland and Labrador
QuebecSaskatchewan
CanadaOntario
Nova Scotia
Alberta
British Columbia
New Brunswick
Manitoba
Prince Edward Island

0.53
0.50
0.50
0.42
0.41
0.41
0.40
0.39
0.38
0.37
0.27
0.0

0.1

0.2
0.3
0.4
% of Total Provincial Employment

0.5

Source: Statistics Canada, Table 27-10-0023-01 & Table 14-10-0090-01

c. Relative Importance of Each Performer Sector to Total R&D Personnel
Chart 10 shows the R&D personnel by performer sector as a share of total R&D
personnel for every province in 2013. New Brunswick had its highest share of R&D personnel inthe higher education sector at 58.3 per cent of its total R&D personnel. The business sector
followed with 31.6 per cent of its total R&D personnel, and the government sector had the lowest
share of R&D personnel at 10.5 per cent.
The Atlantic provinces generally had higher shares of R&D personnel in the higher
education and government sectors compared to the other provinces (Chart 10). In the higher
education sector, New Brunswick ranked third, following Newfoundland and Labrador at 65.0
per cent of its total R&D personnel and Nova Scotia at 59.4 per cent. Prince Edward Island was
the exception, ranking seventh at 39.2 per cent of its total R&D personnel. In the government
sector, New Brunswick ranked fifth, while Prince Edward Island ranked first at 17.6 per cent of
its total R&D personnel and Nova Scotia ranked fourth at 14.8 per cent. The Atlantic provinces,
however, had lower shares of R&D personnel in the business sector compared to the otherprovinces. The provinces with the highest share of R&D spending in the business sector—
Quebec, British Columbia, and Ontario—had the highest shares of R&D personnel in this sector.
Quebec, the highest ranked province, had 64.6 per cent of its total R&D personnel in thebusiness sector, about twice as large as New Brunswick’s share. While the Atlantic provinces
generally had higher shares of total R&D personnel in the higher education and government
sectors and lower shares in the business sector, Quebec, British Columbia, and Ontario had
relatively higher shares in the business sector and lower shares in the higher education andgovernment sectors.

37

0.6

Chart 10: R&D Personnel by Performance Sector as a Share of Total R&D Personnel by Province,
2013
Panel A: Government
Prince Edward Island
Saskatchewan
Manitoba
Nova Scotia
New Brunswick
Ontario
Newfoundland and Labrador
AlbertaCanadaQuebecBritish Columbia

17.6
15.7
15.6
14.8
10.5
9.8
8.6
8.0
7.8
4.7
3.0
0

2

4

6
8
10
12
14
% of Total Provincial R&D Personnel

16

18

20

Panel B: Business
QuebecBritish Columbia
Ontario
CanadaAlberta
Prince Edward Island
Manitoba
New Brunswick
Saskatchewan
Nova Scotia
Newfoundland and Labrador

64.6
62.6
62.5
59.5
48.8
43.1
37.5
31.6
29.8
26.1
25.9
0

10

20

30
40
50
% of Total Provincial R&D Personnel

60

70

Panel C: Higher Education
Newfoundland and Labrador
Nova Scotia
New Brunswick
Saskatchewan
Manitoba
Alberta
Prince Edward Island
British Columbia
CanadaQuebecOntario

65.0
59.4
58.3
54.5
46.9
43.2
39.2
34.4
32.1
30.7
27.7
0

10

20

30
40
50
% of Total Provincial R&D Personnel

Source: Statistics Canada, Table 27-10-0023-01

38

60

70

Consistent with the findings in Chart 10, New Brunswick had its highest share of
Canada’s R&D personnel in the higher education sector at 1.78 per cent of Canada’s total.22 Thegovernment sector followed closely with 1.33 per cent of Canada’s R&D personnel in this sector.
The business sector had the smallest share of the performing sectors; New Brunswick’s R&D
personnel in the business sector comprised 0.52 per cent of Canada’s R&D personnel in this
sector. This relatively low share in the business sector drove down New Brunswick’s total R&D
personnel as a share of Canada’s. New Brunswick’s total personnel made up only 0.98 per centof Canada’s total R&D personnel.

ii.

Trends over Time in New Brunswick
a. R&D Personnel

R&D personnel increased in New Brunswick for all performer sectors, except the
government sector, from 2000 to 2013 (Chart 11).23 Total R&D personnel rose 30.3 percent from1,750 employees in 2000 to 2,280 employees in 2013. Despite this improvement, however, theprovince’s 2013 level was much lower than its peak 2007 level of 3,120 employees. Similarly,
the business sector saw a 26.3 per cent increase from 570 employees in 2000 to 720 employees
in 2013, which was lower than the peak 2007 level of 1,590 employees. The higher education
sector enjoyed the greatest increase; R&D personnel increased 58.3 per cent from 840 employees
in 2000 to 1,330 employees in 2013.
However, the government sector was the outlier among the performer sectors. This sector
saw a significant decline in its R&D employees over the period. R&D personnel fell 27.3 percent from 330 employees in 2000 to 240 employees in 2013.

Number of Persons

Chart 11: R&D Personnel by Performer Sector in New Brunswick, 2000-2013
Panel A: Total R&D Personnel
3,500
3,000
2,500
2,000
1,500
1,000
500
0
2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

Refer to Appendix Chart 4 for the R&D personnel in New Brunswick as a share of Canada’s R&D personnel in2013.
23
Refer to database Table 4 for R&D personnel in New Brunswick from 2000 to 2013.
22

39

2013

Panel B: Government
Number of Persons

600
500
400
300
200
100
0
2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

Number of Persons

Panel C: Business
2000
1500
1000
500
0
2000

Number of Persons

Panel D: Higher Education
1400
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
2000

2001

2002

Source: Statistics Canada, Table 27-10-0023-01

b. R&D Personnel as a Share of Total Employment
New Brunswick’s R&D personnel as a share of total employment increased from 2000 to2013 for every performer sector apart from the government sector (Chart 12). New Brunswick’s
R&D personnel in total and the higher education sector increased by 0.12 percentage points. The
province’s R&D personnel in the business sector increased slightly by 0.03 percentage points.
After peaking at 0.14 per cent of total employment in 2009, R&D personnel in the government
sector in New Brunswick fell to 0.07 per cent in 2013, 0.03 percentage points lower than theshare in 2000.

40

% of Total Employment

Chart 12: R&D Personnel by Performer Sector as a Share of Total Employment in New Brunswick
and Canada, 2000-2013
Panel A: Total R&D Personnel
2

1.5
1
0.5
0
2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

New Brunswick

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

Canada% of Total Employment

Panel B: Government
0.15
0.1
0.05
0
2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

New Brunswick

2008
Canada% of Total Employment

Panel C: Business
1.2
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

New Brunswick

2008
Canada% of Total Employment

Panel D: Higher Education
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

New Brunswick

Source: Statistics Canada, Table 27-10-0023-01 & Table 14-10-0090-01

41

2008
Canadac. R&D Personnel as a Share of Total Employment Relative to Canada’s
Chart 13 shows New Brunswick’s relative R&D personnel as a share of total employment
from 2000 to 2013. R&D personnel in New Brunswick remained lower than Canada’s
throughout the period for every sector apart from the government sector. Most notably, thebusiness sector had a significantly smaller share of R&D personnel relative to Canada comparedto the other sectors. On average over the period, New Brunswick’s R&D personnel as a share of
total employment was 32.7 per cent of Canada’s in the business sector, compared to 85.8 percent in the government sector and 84.3 per cent in the higher education sector.

% of Canada's R&D
personnel as a Share of
Total Employment

Chart 13: R&D Personnel by Performer Sector as a Share of Total Employment in New Brunswick
Relative to Canada’s, 2000-2013
Panel A: Total R&D Personnel
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

New Brunswick

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

Canada (=100)% of Canada's R&D
personnel as a Share of
Total Employment

Panel B: Government
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

New Brunswick

42

2006

2007

2008

Canada (=100)

% of Canada's R&D
personnel as a Share of
Total Employment

Panel C: Business
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

New Brunswick

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

Canada (=100)% of Canada's R&D
personnel as a Share of
Total Employment

Panel D: Higher Education
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

New Brunswick

2007

2008

Canada (=100)

Source: Statistics Canada, Table 27-10-0023-01 & Table 14-10-0090-01

Chart 13 also shows that New Brunswick’s R&D personnel relative to Canada’s
increased from 2000 to 2013 in the business and higher education sectors, which resulted in New
Brunswick’s increased total R&D personnel relative to Canada’s by 2013. Total R&D personnel
in New Brunswick relative to Canada’s increased by 2.5 percentage points from 46.3 per cent of
Canada’s in 2000 to 48.9 per cent in 2013. The higher education sector saw an increase of 6.0
percentage-points from 82.8 per cent of Canada’s in 2000 to 88.8 per cent in 2013. New
Brunswick’s relative R&D personnel increased in the business sector by 1.7 percentage points;
however, by 2017, New Brunswick’s R&D personnel in the business sector was still much lower
than Canada’s at 25.9 per cent. R&D personnel relative to Canada’s in the government sector
declined significantly by 19.1 percentage points over the period, falling to 66.1 per cent of
Canada’s in 2013.

43

C. Patents
Patent statistics represent the creation of new technologies and products—the direct resultof research and development. As an indicator of the creation of new knowledge, patents are acommonly used measure of innovative activity.24 Chart 14 shows the number of patents grantedby the United States Patent and Trademark Office by province in 2016.25 New Brunswick had 35
patents granted or 0.7 per cent of total patents granted in Canada, ranking eighth of the ten
provinces and second of the Atlantic region. The four Atlantic provinces had the least number ofpatents granted in Canada. Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia had the most patents granted
in 2016, exceeding New Brunswick by a significant margin. Ontario ranked first with 2,555
patents granted, 73 times more than New Brunswick’s total patents.
Chart 14: Number of Patents Granted by USPTO in Canada by Province, 2016
Panel A: Absolute
CanadaOntario
QuebecBritish Columbia
Alberta
Saskatchewan
Manitoba
Nova Scotia
New Brunswick
Newfoundland and Labrador
Prince Edward Islands

4713
2555
801
583
513
93
71
47
35
9
6
0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

4000

4500

5000

Panel B: Share of Total Patents Granted in Canada
Ontario
QuebecBritish Columbia
Alberta
Saskatchewan
Manitoba
Nova Scotia
New Brunswick
Newfoundland and Labrador
Prince Edward Islands

54.2
17.0
12.4
10.9
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.7
0.2
0.1
0

10

20

30

40

50

Source: Institut de la statistique du Québec

See Greenspon and Rodigues’s (2017) study on patenting trends in Canada and their implications for Canadianinnovative activity.
25
This report uses patents granted the United States Patent and Trademark Office rather than the CanadianIntellectual Property Office. Canadians apply for more USPO patents than CIPO patents (Greenspon and Rodigues,2017). Furthermore, USPTO data by province from 1980 to 2016 is easily accessible from the Institut de lastatistique du Québec, whereas CIPO data by province is not available before 2012.
24

44

60

Chart 15 shows the number of patents granted by the United States Patent and Trademark
Office in New Brunswick from 1980 to 2016. The number of patents grew over the period fromonly 5 patents in 1980 to 35 patents in 2016. In particular, the post-2010 period saw a significant
rise in the number of patents granted in New Brunswick. For example, the number of patents
granted peaked in 2014 at 42 patents. As patents are a key indicator of innovation, the significant
increase in patents over the period is encouraging for New Brunswick.

45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0

1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016

Number of Patents

Chart 15: Number of Patents Granted by USPTO in New Brunswick, 1980-2016

Source: Institut de la statistique du Québec

D. Firm-Based Innovation Statistics
This subsection examines several firm-based innovation statistics from the Survey ofInnovation and Business Strategy (SIBS).26 We analyze the following measures of firm-based
innovation: the share of innovative firms, types of innovation implemented, and types ofadvanced and emerging technologies adopted. Unfortunately, SIBS only provides regional level
data, rather than provincial.27 Consequently, firm-based data for New Brunswick is not available.
This subsection, thus, compares the following four regions used by SIBS: Atlantic, Quebec,
Ontario, and the West.28 Although not a perfect proxy, we use the data for the Atlantic region asa general indicator of firm-based innovation in New Brunswick.
Chart 16 shows the share of innovative firms in Canada by region for the 2015-2017
period. Innovative firms are defined as enterprises that have introduced a new or significantly
improved product, process, marketing method, or organizational method (Statistics Canada,2018).29 During this period, the Atlantic region had the smallest share of innovative firms at 69.1
26

Since 2009, the Survey of Innovation and Business Strategy by Statistics Canada has measured firm-based
innovation statistics in the Canadian business sector. Key topics include the prevalence of innovation among firms,
types of innovations implemented, barriers to innovation, and firms’ connections to global markets (Statistics
Canada, 2019).
27
SIBS only releases estimates at the regional level, due to sample size issues for small provinces.
28
This report uses the term “the West”, whereas Statistics Canada uses “Rest of Canada”. “The West” is defined as
Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut.
29
This report uses the types of innovations as defined by Statistics Canada, rather than the 2018 Oslo Manual.

45

per cent of its total firms, 10.2 percentage points below the Canadian average. The three otherregions had similar shares, which were slightly above the Canadian average and significantly
higher than the Atlantic region’s share. Quebec ranked first with 80.6 per cent of its total firmsthat were innovative, exceeding the Atlantic region by 11.5 percentage points. Ontario and therest of Canada followed closely at 79.8 per cent and 79.5 per cent, respectively.
Chart 16: Share of Firms that Are Innovative in Canada by Region, 2015-2017% of Total Firms

85
80

79.3

79.5

79.8

80.6

CanadaWest

Ontario

Quebec

75
70

69.1

65
60
Atlantic

Source: Statistics Canada, Survey of Innovation and Business Strategy, Table 27-10-0155-01

Although firms in the Atlantic provinces were less likely to be innovative during the2015-2017 period compared to firms in other regions, Atlantic Canada experienced the greatest
improvement in the share of innovative firms from the 2010-2012 period to the 2015 to 2017
period (Chart 17). The share of innovative firms increased by 23.3 percentage points, from 45.8
per cent of total firms in 2010-2012 to 69.1 per cent in 2015-2017. The other regions also saw
growth in their shares of innovative firms, but these changes were less substantial than the
improvements observed in the Atlantic region. In Ontario, for example, the share of innovative
firms grew by 8.6 percentage points from 71.2 per cent in 2010-2012 to 79.8 per cent in 20152017.
Chart 17: Change in Share of Firms that Are Innovative in Canada by Region from 2010-2012 to
2015-201723.3

Percentage Points

25
20

19.7

20.8

Quebec

West

15.8

15
10

8.6

5
0
Ontario

CanadaAtlantic

Source: Statistics Canada, Survey of Innovation and Business Strategy, Table 27-10-0120-01 & Table 27-10-015501

46

Chart 18 shows the type of innovation introduced by firms in Canada by region in the2015-2017 period. Statistics Canada categorizes innovation into four types: product innovation,
involving the introduction of a new or improved good or service; process innovation, involving
the implementation of a new or improved process in the production or distribution of goods orservices; marketing innovation, involving the implementation of a new marketing strategy; andorganization innovation, involving the implementation of a new methods related to businesspractices or workplace organization (Statistics Canada, 2018). Compared to the other regions,firms in Atlantic Canada were least likely to implement any type of innovation. The following
are key findings from Chart 18:
•

•

•

•

Of the four types of innovation, innovative firms in Atlantic Canada were most likely toadopt organizational innovation.
o 50.5 per cent of innovative firms in Atlantic Canada implemented anorganizational innovationo This share was 9.0 percentage points below the Canadian average. Atlantic
Canada had its best performance relative to the Canadian average inorganizational innovation.
Marketing was the second most common type of innovation in Atlantic Canada.
o 45.3 per cent of innovative firms in Atlantic Canada implemented a marketing
innovation.
o This share was 9.1 percentage points below the Canadian average.
Process innovation was the third most common types of innovation in Atlantic Canada.
o 42.4 per cent of innovative firms in Atlantic Canada implemented a process
innovation.
o This share was 10.5 percentage points below the Canadian average.
The least common type of innovation in the Atlantic region was product innovation.
o 39.6 per cent of innovative firms in Atlantic Canada implemented a productinnovation.
o This share was 13.1 percentage points below the Canadian average. Atlantic
Canada had its worst relative performance in product innovation.

47

% of Innovative
Firms

Chart 18: Types of Innovation Implemented by Firms in Canada by Region, 2015-2017
Panel A: Product
60

50.3

52.7

54.2

55.3

QuebecCanadaOntario

West

51.1

52.7

54.1

54.6

West

CanadaQuebecOntario

59.5

61.9

64.9

39.6
40
20
0
Atlantic% of Innovative
Firms

Panel B: Process
60

42.4
40
20
0
Atlantic% of Innovative
Firms

Panel C: Organizational
80
60

50.5

53.8

AtlanticWest

CanadaOntario

Quebec

52.7

54.4

54.7

58.0

West

CanadaOntario

Quebec40
200% of Innovative
Firms

Panel D: Marketing
80
60

45.3

40
20
0
Atlantic

Source: Statistics Canada, Survey of Innovation and Business Strategy, Table 27-10-0155-01

Chart 19 shows the share of firms that used advanced technologies by region in 2017.
Advanced technologies consist of any equipment or software that carries out new or improved
processes (Statistics Canada, 2018). Among the regions, Atlantic Canada had the smallest shareof firms using advanced technologies at 35.3 per cent of its total firms. In comparison, the otherregions had shares greater than 42.0 per cent. Western Canada ranked first with 44.4 per cent of
total firms that used advanced technologies, exceeding the Atlantic region by 9.1 percentage
points. Of all the types of advanced technologies, business intelligence technologies—those used
for data analysis—were the most commonly used in the Atlantic region, with 19.2 per cent offirms adopting them (Table 6). In comparison, only 7.2 per cent of firms in the Atlantic region48

adopted clean technologies (those that reduce environmental impact), which were the least usedadvanced technology.

% of Total Firms

Chart 19: Share of Firms that Use Advanced Technologies in Canada by Region, 2017
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0

42.4

42.8

42.9

44.4

QuebecCanadaOntario

West

35.3

Atlantic

Source: Statistics Canada, Survey of Innovation and Business Strategy, Table 27-10-0367-01

Table 6: Types of Advanced Technology Used by Firms in Canada by Region, 2017
Type of Advanced Technology

Atlantic

QuebecOntarioWest

Canada% of Firms
Clean technologies

7.1

9.0

10.2

10.9

10.0

Security or advanced authentication systems

7.9

14.4

13.8

13.3

13.5

Processing or fabrication technologies
Material handling, supply chain or logistics
technologies
Design or information control technologies

9.3

13.0

11.9

12.3

12.2

9.8

12.5

12.0

14.4

12.7

14.2

18.7

17.6

17.5

17.7

Business intelligence technologies

19.6

17.9

25.1

23.7

22.5

Source: Statistics Canada, Survey of Innovations and Business Strategy, Table 27-10-0367-01

The Survey of Innovation and Business Strategy also provides the reasons firms did not
adopt or use advanced technologies (Table 7). In the Atlantic region, 42.3 per cent of firms
reported that using advanced technologies was not applicable to their business operations, 4.9
percentage points above the Canadian average. In addition, 38.3 per cent of firms reported notusing advanced technologies because the investment was not necessary to continue theiroperations. Following these top reasons, 18.6 per cent of firms were not convinced of theeconomic benefit of these advanced technologies, while 15.2 per cent of firms cited the high costof implementing them. The share of firms that reported the top three reasons in Atlantic Canada
exceeded their respective Canadian averages. This suggests that, compared to firms in the rest of
Canada, firms in Atlantic Canada are more likely to find innovative activities unnecessary or
irrelevant. In other words, the business strategies of firms in the Atlantic provinces are less likely
to involve innovation.

49

Table 7: Reasons Firms Did Not Adopt or Use Advanced Technologies in Canada by Region, 2017

2.7

2.6

2.1

5.1

3.2

Canada–Atlantic
Percentage
Points
0.5

3.4

1.5

2.0

5.5

3.1

-0.3

4.0

5.1

7.3

5.0

5.8

1.8

6.6

6.2

9.2

5.2

7.0

0.4

7.8

7.0

8.7

10.6

8.8

1.0

10.3

9.9

10.1

11.6

10.5

0.2

10.8

8.1

10.9

10.5

10.1

-0.7

15.2

16.3

19.0

19.4

18.2

3.0

Not convinced of economic benefit

18.6

12.4

16.1

25.3

18.2

-0.4

Investment not necessary for continuing operations
Adoption or use of advanced technologies notapplicable to the business’s activities

38.3

38.1

34.3

39.0

37.0

-1.3

42.3

36.8

40.6

32.9

37.4

-4.9

ReasonAtlantic

QuebecOntarioWest

Canada% of Firms
Organizational culture too inflexible
Lack of technical support or services (fromconsultants or vendors)
Difficulty in obtaining financing
Decisions made by parent, affiliates or subsidiarybusinesses
Lack of information regarding advanced technology
Difficulty in integrating new advanced technologies
with existing systems, standards and processes
Lack of technical skills required to support this typeof investment
High cost of advanced technologies

Source: Statistics Canada, Survey of Innovations and Business Strategy, Table 27-10-0368-01

E. Business Investment
As most technological advances are embodied in capital equipment, the rate of business
investment is closely related to the rate of technological advancement. This sub-section examines
fixed non-residential capital investment levels and trends for New Brunswick, the provinces, andCanada in the business sector. We also analyze the four types of non-residential investment,
namely non-residential buildings, engineering construction, machinery and equipment, andintellectual property products. Finally, this section examines investment in intellectual property
products more closely by analyzing its three types: mineral exploration and evaluation, researchand development, and software.
i. Cross-Sectional Analysis of Non-Residential Investment by Provincea. Non-Residential Investment as a Share of Nominal GDP
Chart 20 compares types of provincial non-residential investment in the business sector
as a share of nominal GDP in 2018.30 New Brunswick spent $5.12 billion or 13.8 per cent of its
nominal GDP on non-residential investment. For New Brunswick, machinery and equipment
ranked the highest among the four types of non-residential investment at $1.86 billion or 5.0 per
cent of the province’s nominal GDP. Following machinery and equipment, New Brunswick
invested $1.44 billion or 3.9 per cent of its nominal GDP on engineering construction and $1.06
30

Refer to database Table 9 for estimates on non-residential fixed capital investment by province.

50

billion or 2.9 per cent on non-residential buildings. Finally, the province spent the least ininvestment in intellectual property products at $750 million or 2.0 per cent of its nominal GDP.
New Brunswick ranked seventh of the ten provinces and third of the Atlantic provinces
for total non-residential investment (Chart 20). Newfoundland had the highest total investment at
23.5 per cent of its nominal GDP, exceeding New Brunswick by 9.7 percentage points. However,
New Brunswick ranked higher than Quebec and Ontario, the two most innovative provinces
according to previously discussed indicators of innovation. New Brunswick’s total nonresidential investment as a share of nominal GDP slightly exceeded Quebec’s and Ontario’s by
1.3 and 0.9 percentage points, respectively.
Among the provinces, New Brunswick ranked high in non-residential buildings andmachinery and equipment, but low in engineering and construction and intellectual property
products (Chart 20). For investment in both non-residential buildings and machinery andequipment, New Brunswick had the third highest share of nominal GDP among the ten provinces
and second highest among the Atlantic provinces. In contrast, for engineering and construction,
New Brunswick ranked sixth at 3.91 per cent. Newfoundland, the highest ranked province, spent14.2 per cent of its nominal GDP on investment in engineering and construction, exceeding New
Brunswick’s by 10.3 percentage points. Most significantly, of all the types of investment, New
Brunswick had its lowest rank in intellectual property products, the type of investment mostrelated to innovation and R&D. The poor results in intellectual property products are consistent
with New Brunswick’s weak R&D performance. Among the provinces, New Brunswick ranked
seventh in intellectual property products at 2.03 per cent. Ontario and Quebec had the highest
investment as a share of nominal GDP in intellectual property products, exceeding New
Brunswick by 1.02 and 1.00 percentage points, respectively.
Chart 20: Type of Non-Residential Investment as a Share of Nominal GDP by Province, 2018
Panel A: Total Non-Residential Investment
Newfoundland and Labrador
Saskatchewan
Alberta
Manitoba
CanadaNova Scotia
British Columbia
New Brunswick
Ontario
QuebecPrince Edward Island

23.5
22.2
21.1
15.6
14.9
14.2
13.9
13.8
12.9
12.5
11.4
0

5

10
15
% of Nominal Provincial GDP

51

20

25

Panel B: Non-Residential Buildings
Manitoba
Prince Edward Island
New Brunswick
Saskatchewan
Nova Scotia
CanadaOntario
Alberta
British Columbia
QuebecNewfoundland and Labrador

3.72
2.92
2.87
2.81
2.43
2.41
2.37
2.34
2.32
2.21
1.96
0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5
2.0
2.5
% of Nominal Provincial GDP

3.0

3.5

4.0

Panel C: Engineering Construction
Newfoundland and Labrador
Alberta
Saskatchewan
Manitoba
British Columbia
CanadaNew Brunswick
QuebecOntario
Nova Scotia
Prince Edward Island

14.18

12.17
11.47
5.94
5.64
5.58
3.91
3.87
2.98
2.75
2.24
0

2

4

6
8
10
% of Nominal Provincial GDP

12

14

16

Panel D: Machinery and Equipment
Nova Scotia
Saskatchewan
New Brunswick
Ontario
Alberta
Newfoundland and Labrador
Prince Edward Island
CanadaManitoba
British Columbia
Quebec

6.19
5.77
5.04
4.46
4.39
4.38
4.29
4.26
4.06
3.86
3.40
0

1

2

3
4
% of Nominal Provincial GDP

52

5

6

7

Panel E: Intellectual Property Products
Ontario
QuebecNewfoundland and Labrador
Nova Scotia
CanadaAlberta
British Columbia
Saskatchewan
New Brunswick
Prince Edward Island
Manitoba

3.05
3.03
2.95
2.85
2.71
2.25
2.11
2.09
2.03
1.97
1.84
0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5
2.0
% of Nominal Provincial GDP

2.5

3.0

Source: Statistics Canada, Table 36-10-0098-01 & Table 36-10-0222-01

b. Relative Importance of Each Type of Investment to Total Non-Residential
Investment
Chart 21 compares the types of non-residential investment as a share of total provincial
non-residential investment in 2018. New Brunswick had its largest share of non-residential
investment in machinery and equipment, spending 36.4 per cent. Engineering construction andnon-residential buildings followed with 28.2 per cent and 20.7 per cent of total non-residential
investment, respectively. Intellectual property products made up the smallest share of total nonresidential investment. New Brunswick allocated 14.7 per cent of its non-residential investment
in intellectual property products, significantly smaller than the shares for the other types ofinvestment.
Compared across provinces, New Brunswick had relatively high shares of total nonresidential investment in non-residential buildings and machinery and equipment, which isconsistent with the findings for non-residential investment as a share of nominal GDP (Chart 21).
New Brunswick ranked third for both types of investments. The province ranked much lower forengineering and construction and intellectual property products. For engineering andconstruction, New Brunswick ranked seventh of the ten provinces and second of the Atlantic
provinces. Most interestingly, New Brunswick ranked slightly higher in intellectual property
products, exceeding the shares of four provinces. However, Quebec and Ontario, the provinceswith the largest shares of total non-residential investment in intellectual property products,
exceeded New Brunswick significantly by 9.5 and 9.0 percentage points, respectively.

53

3.5

Chart 21: Type of Investment as a Share of Total Non-Residential Investment by Province, 2018
Panel A: Non-Residential Buildings
Prince Edward Island
Manitoba
New Brunswick
Ontario
QuebecNova Scotia
British Columbia
CanadaSaskatchewan
Alberta
Newfoundland and Labrador

25.5
23.9
20.7
18.4
17.6
17.1
16.7
16.1
12.7
11.0
8.3
0

5

10
15
20
% of Total Non-Residential Investment

25

30

Panel B: Engineering Construction
Newfoundland and Labrador
Alberta
Saskatchewan
British Columbia
Manitoba
CanadaQuebecNew Brunswick
OntarioPrince Edward Island
Nova Scotia

60.4
57.6
51.8
40.5
38.2
37.3
31.0
28.2
23.2
19.6
19.4
0

10

20
30
40
50
% of Total Non-Residential Investment

60

70

Panel C: Machinery and Equipment
Nova Scotia
Prince Edward Island
New Brunswick
Ontario
CanadaBritish Columbia
QuebecManitoba
Saskatchewan
Alberta
Newfoundland and Labrador

43.5
37.5
36.4
34.7
28.5
27.7
27.2
26.1
26.1
20.7
18.6
0

5

10

15
20
25
30
35
% of Total Non-Residential Investment

54

40

45

50

Panel D: Intellectual Property Products
QuebecOntario
Nova Scotia
CanadaPrince Edward Island
British Columbia
New Brunswick
Newfoundland and Labrador
Manitoba
Alberta
Saskatchewan

24.2
23.7
20.0
18.1
17.3
15.1
14.7
12.6
11.9
10.6

9.5
0

5

10
15
20
% of Total Non-Residential Investment25

Source: Statistics Canada, Table 36-10-0098-01

ii.

Trends over Time in Non-Residential Investment in New Brunswicka. Non-Residential Investment

Non-Residential investment in current and constant 2012 dollars in New Brunswick
increased from 1981 to 2018 (Chart 22 and 23).31 Total non-residential investment rose from
$1.38 billion in 1981 to $5.12 billion in 2018; in constant 2012 dollars, non-residential
investment increased 62.6 per cent from $2.76 billion in 1981 to $4.48 billion in 2018, though,by the end of the period, it remained below its peak level of $5.64 billion in 2006. All otherperformer sectors increased in nominal terms. Investment in non-residential buildings increased
from $311 million in 1981 to $1.06 billion in 2018; engineering construction from $350 million
in 1981 to 1.44 billion in 2018; machinery and equipment from $645 million in 1981 to $1.86
billion in 2018; and intellectual property products from $74 million in 1981 to $750 million in
2018.

31

Refer to database Table 10 for non-residential fixed investment in current and constant 2012 prices from 1981 to
2018.

55

30

1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018

Current Prices inMillions

1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018

Current Prices inMillions

1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018

Current Prices inMillions

1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018

Current Prices inMillions

Chart 22: Type of Non-Residential Investment in New Brunswick, Current Dollars, 1981-2018
Panel A: Total Non-Residential Investment
6,006

5,006

4,006

3,006

2,006

1,006

6

Panel B: Non-Residential Buildings

1,206
1,006
806
606
406
206
6

Panel C: Engineering Construction

2,506

2,006

1,506

1,006

506

6

Panel D: Machinery and Equipment

2,506

2,006

1,506

1,006

506

6

56

Panel E: Intellectual Property Products
Current Prices inMillions

806
606
406
206

1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018

6

Source: Statistics Canada, Table 36-10-0098-01

6,006
5,006
4,006
3,006
2,006
1,006
6

1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018

Constant 2012 Prices
in Millions

Chart 23: Total Non-Residential Investment in New Brunswick, Constant 2012 Dollars, 1981-2018

Source: Statistics Canada, Table 36-10-0098-01

b. Non-Residential Investment as a Share of Nominal GDP
Between 1981 and 2018, New Brunswick’s non-residential investment as a share of
nominal GDP declined for most types of investment (Chart 24). Total non-residential investment
in New Brunswick decreased by 6.9 percentage points from 20.7 per cent of nominal GDP in
1981 to 13.8 per cent in 2018, while the Canadian average decreased by only 4.2 percentage
points. This decline was largely driven by decreasing investment in non-residential buildings,
engineering construction, and machinery and equipment.
Investment in machinery and equipment declined the most among the types of investment
over the period, falling by 4.7 percentage points from 9.7 per cent of nominal GDP in 1981 to 5.0
per cent in 2018 (Chart 24). This decrease exceeded that of the national average at 3.7 percentage
points. Non-residential buildings and engineering construction declined by 1.8 and 1.4
percentage points, respectively, both exceeding declines in the Canadian average. Investment in
intellectual property products was the exception. New Brunswick’s investment in intellectual
property products increased modestly by 0.92 percentage point from 1.1 per cent of nominal
GDP in 1981 to 2.0 per cent in 2018; in comparison, intellectual property products in Canada
increased by 0.96 percentage points. For all types of investment, Canada experienced greater
improvement than New Brunswick from 1981 to 2018.

57

1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018

% of Nominal GDP
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018

% of Nominal GDP
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018

% of Nominal GDP

Chart 24: Type of Non-Residential Investment as a Share of Nominal GDP in New Brunswick andCanada, 1981-2018
Panel A: Total Non-Residential Investment
26

21

16

11

6

New Brunswick

New Brunswick

New Brunswick

58

CanadaPanel B: Non-Residential Buildings

6

5

4

3

2

1

0

CanadaPanel C: Engineering Construction

8

6

4

2

0

Canada

12
10
8
6
4
2
0

1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018

% of Nominal GDP

Panel D: Machinery and Equipment

New Brunswick

Canada

3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0

1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018

% of Nominal GDP

Panel E: Intellectual Property Products

New Brunswick

CanadaSource: Statistics Canada, Table 36-10-0098-01 & Table 36-10-0222-01

c. Non-Residential Investment as a Share of Nominal GDP Relative to
Canada’sChart 25 shows the non-residential investment in New Brunswick relative to Canada’s
from 1981 to 2017. Although New Brunswick’s investment in intellectual property products
increased, it remained well below Canada’s for the entire period. Apart from intellectual property
products, the other types of investment in New Brunswick fluctuated below and above Canada’s
throughout the period. In contrast, New Brunswick’s investment in intellectual property products
never reached Canada’s, averaging 65.7 per cent of Canada’s over the period.

59

1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018

% of Canada's
Investment as a Share of
Nominal GDP

1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018

% of Canada's
Investment as a Share of
Nominal GDP

1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018

% of Canada's
Investment as a Share of
Nominal GDP

1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018

% of Canada's
Investment as a Shareof Nominal GDP

Chart 25: Type of Non-Residential Investment as a Share of Nominal GDP in New Brunswick
Relative to Canada’s, 1981-2018
Panel A: Total Non-Residential Investment
140

90

40

New Brunswick

New Brunswick

New Brunswick

New Brunswick

60

Canada (=100)

Panel B: Non-Residential Buildings

160
140
120
100
80
60
40

Canada (=100)

Panel C: Engineering Construction

220

170

120

70

20

Canada (=100)

Panel D: Machinery and Equipment

170

120

70

20

Canada (=100)

120
70
20

1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018

% of Canada's
Investment as a Shareof Nominal GDP

Panel E: Intellectual Property Products

New Brunswick

Canada (=100)

Source: Statistics Canada, Table 36-10-0098-01 & Table 36-10-0222-01

However, New Brunswick’s relative investment in intellectual property products
improved over the period, while the other types of investment declined relative to Canada’s(Chart 25). Relative investment in intellectual property products increased by 11.4 percentage
points from 63.6 per cent of Canada’s to 75.0 per cent. In comparison, relative investment inengineering construction decreased by 19.4 percentage points from 89.5 per cent of Canada’s in
1981 to 70.1 per cent in 2018. This decrease in engineering construction reflects a lack of natural
resource-based development in New Brunswick. Non-residential buildings declined by 10.5
percentage points from 129.5 per cent of Canada’s in 1981 to 119.0 per cent in 2018. Machineryand equipment declined less substantially by 3.8 percentage points from 122.3 per cent of
Canada’s in 1981 to 118.5 per cent in 2018. Due to these declines, total non-residential
investment decreased by 15.6 percentage points from 108.2 of Canada’s in 1981 to 92.6 per centin 2018.
Similarly, apart from intellectual property products, every type of non-residential
investment in New Brunswick as a share of Canada’s total non-residential fixed investment
declined from 1981 to 2018.32 New Brunswick’s investment in engineering construction
decreased the most significantly, declining by 0.45 percentage points from 1.61 per cent of
Canada’s in 1981 to 1.16 per cent in 2018. Investment in non-residential buildings andmachinery and equipment as shares of Canada’s decreased by 0.36 and 0.24 percentage points,
respectively. Consequently, total non-residential investment as a share of Canada’s decreased by
0.41 percentage points from 1.95 per cent of Canada’s in 1981 to 1.54 per cent in 2018. In
contrast, New Brunswick’s investment in intellectual property products increased by 0.10
percentage points from 1.15 per cent of Canada’s in 1981 to 1.25 per cent in 2018.

Refer to Appendix Chart 5 for non-residential investment in New Brunswick as a share of Canada’s by type ofinvestment from 1981 to 2018.
32

61

iii.

Cross-Sectional Analysis of Investment in Intellectual Property Products by
Province

Chart 26 compares investment in three types of intellectual property products as a shareof nominal GDP by province in 2018. Of the three types, New Brunswick invested the most in
software at $452 million or 1.22 per cent of its nominal GDP. Research and development
followed at $272 million or 0.74 per cent of nominal GDP, while mineral and exploration had thelowest spending at $26 million or 0.07 per cent of nominal GDP.33
Chart 26: Type of Investment in Intellectual Property Products as a Share of Nominal GDP by
Province, 2018
Panel A: Mineral Exploration and Evaluation
Newfoundland and Labrador
Nova Scotia
Saskatchewan
AlbertaCanadaBritish Columbia
QuebecManitoba
New Brunswick
OntarioPrince Edward Island

1.46
0.67
0.59
0.39
0.23
0.21
0.17
0.08
0.07
0.07
0.00
0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6
0.8
1.0
% of Nominal Provincial GDP

1.2

1.4

1.6

Panel B: Research and Development
QuebecOntario
CanadaNova Scotia
Manitoba
British Columbia
Prince Edward Island
Newfoundland and Labrador
New Brunswick
Alberta
Saskatchewan

1.51
1.29
1.13
1.02
0.92
0.88
0.84
0.81
0.74
0.72
0.70
0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6
0.8
1.0
% of Nominal Provincial GDP

1.2

1.4

1.6

New Brunswick’s R&D investment (0.74 per cent of nominal GDP) is lower than its R&D spending (0.95 per centof nominal GDP), which this report discussed earlier. Three reasons could explain this discrepancy. First,
methodology differences could account for this discrepancy, as R&D investment and R&D expenditures are fromdifferent surveys. Second, R&D investment only includes spending in fixed non-residential capital, while R&D
spending is comprehensive (i.e. includes all expenditures). Lastly, the findings for R&D investment and R&D
spending are from different reference years (investment in 2018 vs. spending in 2017).
33

62

Panel C: Software
Ontario
CanadaQuebecNew Brunswick
Nova Scotia
Alberta
Prince Edward Island
British Columbia
Manitoba
Saskatchewan
Newfoundland and Labrador

1.69
1.35
1.35
1.22
1.15
1.14
1.13
1.02
0.85
0.81
0.68
0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
% of Nominal Provincial GDP

1.4

1.6

1.8

Source: Statistics Canada, Table 36-10-0098-01 & Table 36-10-0222-01

Among the provinces, New Brunswick ranked low in mineral exploration and evaluation
and research and development, but high in software (Chart 26). For mineral exploration andevaluation, New Brunswick had the second lowest investment, significantly below theinvestments of top-ranking Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador. More significantly,
New Brunswick ranked eighth in R&D investment. The most innovative provinces, Quebec andOntario, had the largest shares, exceeding New Brunswick by 0.77 and 0.55 percentage points,
respectively. New Brunswick’s investment in software, however, ranked higher than mostprovinces. New Brunswick had the third highest share of the ten provinces and highest share of
the Atlantic provinces.
Software comprised the majority of New Brunswick’s total investment in intellectual
property products. 34 New Brunswick invested 60.3 per cent of its total investment in intellectual
property products in software, compared to 36.3 per cent for R&D and 3.5 per cent for mineral
exploration and evaluation. Compared to the other provinces, New Brunswick ranked eighth inmineral exploration and evaluation, and sixth in R&D. Most notably, New Brunswick had thelargest share in software among the provinces. For comparison, Quebec and Ontario had 44.4 percent and 55.5 per cent of total investment in intellectual property products as software,
respectively.

34

Refer to Appendix Chart 6 for types of investment in intellectual property products as a share of total investment
in intellectual property products by province in 2018.

63

iv.

Trends over Time in Types of Investment in Intellectual Property Products in
New Brunswicka. Investment in Intellectual Property Products

All three types of investment in intellectual property products experienced growth from1981 to 2018 (Chart 27).35 In real terms, investment in mineral exploration increased 21.1 percent from $19 million in 1981 to $23 million in 2018, and research and development rose 53.5
per cent from $155 million in 1981 to $238 million in 2018. Software experienced the mostsubstantial growth, increasing from eleven times its 1981 value of $35 million to $403 million in
2018.
Chart 27: Type of Investment in Intellectual Property Products in New Brunswick, 1981-2018

Panel A: Mineral Exploration and Evaluation
Millions of Dollars

100
80
60
40
20

1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018

0

Current Prices

Constant 2012 Prices

Panel B: Research and Development
Millions of Dollars

300
250
200
150
100
50

1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018

0

Current Prices

35

Constant 2012 Prices

Refer to database Table 12 for investment in intellectual property products in current and constant 2012 prices
from 1981 to 2018.

64

Panel C: Software
Millions of Dollars

500
400
300
200
100

1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018

0

Current Prices

Constant 2012 Prices

Source: Statistics Canada, Table 36-10-0098-01

b. Investment in Intellectual Property Products as a Share of Nominal GDP
From 1981 to 2018, New Brunswick’s investment in intellectual property products as ashare of nominal GDP increased for R&D and software, but declined for mineral exploration andevaluation (Chart 28). New Brunswick’s investment in R&D as a share of nominal GDP
increased by 0.05 percentage points from 0.69 per cent of nominal GDP in 1981 to 0.74 per centin 2018, while investment in software grew by 0.93 percentage points from 0.29 per cent in 1981
to 1.22 per cent in 2018. Investment in mineral exploration and evaluation, however, decreased
by 0.05 percentage points from 0.12 per cent of nominal GDP in 1981 to 0.07 per cent in 2018.
Chart 28: Type of Investment in Intellectual Property Products as a Share of Nominal GDP in New
Brunswick and Canada, 1981-2018
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0.0

1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018

% of Nominal GDP

Panel A: Mineral Exploration and Evaluation

New Brunswick

65

Canada

1.6
1.4
1.2
1.0
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0

1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018

% of Nominal GDP

Panel B: Research and Development

New Brunswick

Canada

1.6
1.4
1.2
1.0
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018

% of Nominal GDP

Panel C: Software

New Brunswick

CanadaSource: Statistics Canada, Table 36-10-0098-01 & Table 36-10-0222-01

a. Investment in Intellectual Property Products as a Share of Nominal GDP
Relative to Canada’s
The trends in relative investment in intellectual property products for New Brunswick
contrast those of the absolute. New Brunswick’s relative investment in intellectual property
products increased for mineral exploration and evaluation, but declined for R&D and software(Chart 29). Between 1981 and 2018, New Brunswick’s investment in mineral exploration andevaluation relative to Canada’s increased by 1.19 percentage points; however, by 2018, theprovince’s investment remained well below the national average at 30.6 per cent of Canada’s.
For R&D, New Brunswick’s relative investment decreased by 0.6 percentage points from 65.8
per cent of Canada’s in 1981 to 65.2 per cent in 2018. Similar to mineral exploration andevaluation, New Brunswick’s investment in R&D was consistently below Canada’s over theperiod. Relative investment in software experienced the most significant decline between 1981
and 2018, falling 7.56 percentage points. After peaking at 130.0 per cent of Canada’s in 2002,
New Brunswick’s relative investment in software decreased to 90.7 per cent in 2018.

66

Chart 29: Type of Investment in Intellectual Property Products as a Share of Nominal GDP in New
Brunswick Relative to Canada’s, 1981-2018
150
100
50

0
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018

% of Canada's
Investment inIntellectual Property
Products as a Share of
Nominal GDP

Panel A: Mineral Exploration and Evaluation

New Brunswick

Canada (=100)

150
100
50
0

1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018

% of Canada's
Investment inIntellectual Property
Products as a Share of
Nominal GDP

Panel B: Research and Development

New Brunswick

Canada (=100)

150
100
50
0

1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018

% of Canada's
Investment inIntellectual Property
Products as a Share of
Nominal GDP

Panel C: Software

New Brunswick

Canada (=100)

Source: Statistics Canada, Table 36-10-0098-01 & Table 36-10-0222-01

For every type of intellectual property product, investment in New Brunswick as a shareof Canada’s declined from 1981 to 2018.36 New Brunswick’s investment in software as a shareof Canada’s fell the most significantly over the period. Investment in software decreased by 0.27
percentage points from 1.77 per cent of Canada’s in 1981 to 1.51 per cent in 2018. Incomparison, investment in R&D as a share of Canada’s fell by 0.10 percentage points, andinvestment in mineral exploration and evaluation decreased by 0.02 percentage points from 1981
to 2018.

36

Refer to Appendix Chart 7 for investment in intellectual property products in New Brunswick as a share of
Canada’s by type of intellectual property product from 1981 to 2018.

67

F. Business Entry
New businesses bring new innovations and technological advances when entering themarket. As a result, business creation helps fuel innovative activity, while barriers to businessentry may inhibit it. Business entry rates, thus, provide insight into a province’s propensity forinnovation.
Chart 30 shows the gross and net business entry rate in New Brunswick across 15
industries in 2017.37 The business entry rate for total sectors was 12.0 per cent. Information andcultural industries had the highest entry rate at 18.6 per cent, while wholesale trade had thelowest at 7.5 per cent. For total sectors, the net business entry rate in New Brunswick was 0.2 per
cent; this rate indicates a slow rate of net business creation in the province. Three industries—
information and cultural industries, real estate and rental and leasing, and construction—had
positive net entry rates, which likely drove the positive net entry rate for all sectors. Fiveindustries had a net entry rate of zero. Seven of fifteen industries had negative net entry rates.
Most notably, three industries with a negative net entry rate—manufacturing; professional,
scientific, and technical services; and wholesale trade—were part of the Information andCommunication Technology sector, which is known to be highly innovative.38
Chart 30: Business Entry Rates in New Brunswick by Industry, 2017
Panel A: Gross Entry Rate
18.6

Information and cultural industries
Real estate and rental and leasing
Professional, scientific and technical services
Administrative and support, waste management and remediation services
Construction
Finance and insurance
Accommodation and food services
Transportation and warehousing
Arts, entertainment and recreation
Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction
Management of companies and enterprises
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting
Retail trade
Manufacturing
Wholesale trade
All Sectors

16.4
13.4
12.6
12.6
11.3
10.3
10.3
10.1
10.0
8.7
8.7
8.6
8.4
7.5
12.0
0

37

2

4

6

8
10
12
14
% of Total Active Firms

16

The exit rate is the difference between the gross and net business entry rate. Refer to database Table T13 forestimates on business entry and exit rates in 2017.
38
Statistics Canada (2015) defines the ICT sector as comprising the following industries: manufacturing; wholesaletrade; information and cultural industries; professional, scientific, and technical services; and other services (except
Public Administration).

68

18

20

Panel B: Net Entry Rate
4.6

Information and cultural industries
Real estate and rental and leasing
Construction
Arts, entertainment and recreation
Management of companies and enterprises
Finance and insurance
Retail trade
Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction
Wholesale trade-0.8
Administrative and support, waste management and remediation services-1.0
Professional, scientific and technical services-1.0
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting-1.5
Transportation and warehousing-2.1
Manufacturing-2.1
Accommodation and food services -2.4
All Sectors

-3

-2

-1

2.4
0.3
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0

0.2
0
1
2
% of Total Active Firms

3

4

Source: Statistics Canada, Table 33-10-0087-01

Relative to the other provinces, New Brunswick’s gross and net entry rates were low(Chart 31). For the gross entry rate, the province ranked ninth of ten provinces and last of theAtlantic provinces. For net entry rate, the province ranked eighth of the ten provinces and thirdof the Atlantic provinces. Top-ranking Prince Edward Island exceeded New Brunswick by 4.6
percentage points for net entry rate. Other high-ranking provinces also had net entry rates thatexceeded New Brunswick’s by a wide margin. Ontario’s net entry rate, for example, exceeded
New Brunswick’s by 2.0 percentage points.
Chart 31: Business Entry Rates by Province, 2017
Panel A: Gross Entry Rate
Prince Edward Island
British Columbia
Alberta
Ontario
Saskatchewan
Newfoundland and Labrador
CanadaManitoba
Nova Scotia
New Brunswick
Quebec

17.9
14.6
14.3
13.7
13.1
13.0
12.8
12.6
12.4
12.0
10.8

0

2

4

6

8
10
12
% of Total Active Firms

69

14

16

18

20

5

Panel B: Net Entry Rate
Prince Edward Island
Ontario
British Columbia
CanadaManitoba
Nova Scotia
QuebecSaskatchewan
New Brunswick
Alberta
Newfoundland and Labrador

4.8
2.2
2.1
1.4
1.4
1.4
1.3
0.4
0.2
-0.6
-1.3
-2

-1

0

1
2
3
% of Total Active Firms

4

5

6

Source: Statistics Canada, Table 33-10-0087-01

New Brunswick had 24,920 active businesses in 2002 and 22,790 in 2017 (Chart 32).
New Brunswick ranked eighth in the number of active businesses in both 2002 and 2007, whichis consistent with its rank among the provinces in population. The Atlantic provinces had thefewest number of active businesses in Canada. New Brunswick ranked the lowest among theprovinces in terms of compound annual growth in the number of active businesses between 2002
and 2017. In New Brunswick, the number of active businesses declined at a rate of 0.59 per centper year over the 15-year period. Atlantic Canada had relatively weaker growth compared to theother Canadian regions. New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island experienced
negative growth, while Newfoundland and Labrador had positive but relatively low growth. In
contrast, the number of active businesses in Ontario grew by 2.08 per cent per year between 2002
and 2017, exceeding New Brunswick’s growth rate by 2.67 percentage points.
Chart 32: Number of Active Businesses by Province, 2002-2017
Panel A: 2002
CanadaOntario
QuebecBritish Columbia
Alberta
Saskatchewan
Manitoba
Nova Scotia
New Brunswick
Newfoundland and Labrador
Prince Edward Island

917
314
215

145
130
36.5
33.3
29.2
24.9
16.9
6.6
0

100

200

300

400
500
600
700
Number of Firms (Thousands)

70

800

900

1,000

Panel B: 2017
CanadaOntario
QuebecBritish Columbia
Alberta
Saskatchewan
Manitoba
Nova Scotia
New Brunswick
Newfoundland and Labrador
Prince Edward Island

1,123
428
221
184
176
41.1
38.2
27.3
22.8
18.1
6.4
0

200

400
600
800
Number of Firms (Thousands)

1,000

1,200

Panel C: Compound Annual Growth, 2002-2017
2.50

2.04

% Per Year

2.00
1.36

1.50

0.79

1.00
0.21

0.50

0.46

0.00
-0.50
-1.00

-0.59

-0.44

-0.25

Source: Statistics Canada, Table 33-10-0087-01

71

0.94

1.62

2.08

II.

Literature Review

A. Innovation Situation in Atlantic Canada and New Brunswick
Most of the literature on innovation in Canada has documented New Brunswick’s and,more generally, Atlantic Canada’s weak innovation performance. Compared to the otherprovinces and regions, New Brunswick and Atlantic Canada have consistently ranked low interms of innovation between the early 2000s and 2010s. The Conference Board of Canada(2018) assessed the state of innovation in Canada from 2013 to 2015 and scored each provinceby letter grade for every indicator. They examined numerous indicators of innovative activity,
such as public and business R&D spending, the number of researchers and scientific articles, ICT
investment, business entry rate, and patents. The authors concluded that the Atlantic provinces
had the weakest innovation performances, while Ontario and Quebec had the strongest. In
particular, New Brunswick ranked last, due to especially low scores in the number of researchers
engaged in R&D, business R&D spending, and patents. New Brunswick was the only province
unable to receive a score higher than “C” for any indicator.

Image Source: The Conference Board of Canada, 2018

Other studies have also found poor results in several innovation indicators for Atlantic
Canada and New Brunswick. These results are consistent with this report’s findings:•

Global Advantage Consulting Group (2019) conducted a comprehensive study of New
Brunswick’s innovation ecosystem for the University of New Brunswick. They
concluded that in 2016 New Brunswick had the weakest R&D performance of the72

provinces. The authors found that the provincial government was not adequately
supporting innovation and research, compared to the other sectors; the provincial
government, for example, funded $11 million in 2016, significantly lower than the $131
million funded by the higher education sector. Moreover, unlike most provinces, New
Brunswick’s business sector was not a significant performer of R&D; instead, theprovince relied on the higher education sector.39
Total R&D in NB: $354 M (Major Flows of R&D Funding 2016)
Six (6) Sources of R&D Funding
Higher
Education
Business

Federal

$131M

$ 72M

Provincial

Private NFP

$11M

$12M

Foreign

$84M

$45M
$3M

$9M

$7M

$131M

$4M

$70 M

$113 M

$12M

$11M
$45M

$37 M

$26M

$187M

$ 127M$ 37M
Federal$3M

Higher
Education

Provincial
Research
Organisations

Four (4) Performers of R&D

Business

Source: Statistics Canada 2018 (latest)

Image Source: Global Advantage Consulting Group, 2018•

The Expert Panel on the State of Science and Technology and Industrial Research andDevelopment in Canada (2018) compared R&D spending among the provinces between
2011 and 2015. New Brunswick ranked ninth of the ten provinces. While the highest
ranked provinces relied on the business sector as their main source of R&D investment,
the higher education sector was the largest source of funding in Atlantic Canada.

•

Locke, Davis, Freedman, Godin, and Holbrook (2004) found that Atlantic Canada and
New Brunswick relied on the higher education sector to perform R&D. In comparison,
Atlantic Canada’s and New Brunswick’s shares of business R&D were much lower thanthe Canadian average. The study identified the same structural features of innovation in
New Brunswick as documented in this report.

39

See also the Council of Canadian Academies (2018), Innovation Working Group (2012), and Maritime Provinces
Higher Education Commission (2005) for more analysis on R&D expenditures in Atlantic Canada.

73

•

The Atlantic Provinces Economic Council (2002) used the 1998/1999 Workplace
Employee Survey to examine innovation in Atlantic Canada at the firm level. They foundthat the share of large innovative firms in the Atlantic region was lower than the
Canadian average, but the share of small innovative firms exceeded the national rate. The
share of firms that adopted new technology was also lower than the national average.
These results are consistent with this report’s current findings from the Survey ofInnovation and Business Strategy.

B. Explaining the Weak State of Innovation in Atlantic Canada and New
Brunswick
Much of the literature has examined the reasons for the innovation gap in Atlantic
Canada and New Brunswick relative to the national average and other Canadian regions.
Bourgeois and LeBlanc (2002) studied the link between innovative activity and economic
development in Atlantic Canada, using the 1999 Survey of Innovation and the 1999 Workplaceand Employee Survey. They listed two major barriers to innovation in Atlantic Canada: financial
and labour issues. First, financial barriers concern the high costs of investing in innovation andthe difficulty in receiving R&D funding. They found that 63 per cent of manufacturing firms in
the Atlantic provinces cited high costs of purchasing new technology and investing in R&D as
the primary barrier to conducting innovative activity, while 33 per cent reported financing issues,
such as not meeting the requirements to receive government R&D funding. Lastly, Bourgeois
and LeBlanc cited labour and knowledge related issues, such as labour shortages. According to
the 1999 Survey of Innovation, 38 per cent of firms in the Atlantic region reported a shortage ofskilled labour.
Recent studies have posited similar barriers to innovation and point to a lack ofinnovative culture in New Brunswick. Decourcey, Casey, Fillmore, and Whalen (2017) foundthat, compared to other regions in Canada, the Atlantic provinces received less R&D funding,
had less access to capital to fund new business projects and innovations, and had less access to
skilled labour. They also focused on the relatively weak business environment in Atlantic
Canada, attributing difficulty in entering large markets and introducing new products in smaller
local markets in the region.
Similarly, Holden (2018) studied the reasons for Atlantic Canada’s weak innovation in
the manufacturing sector, using the 2018 Management Issues Survey by Canadian Manufacturers
and Exporters:•

Atlantic Canada faced persistent labour shortages, particularly among highly skilledworkers. According to the 2018 Management Issues Survey, these shortages were the
74

•

•

•

largest barrier to innovation. In Atlantic Canada, the out-migration of young people with
post-secondary education has long been one of the major factors behind the region’s
labour and skills shortages.40
The study found a “technology information gap” among the Atlantic provinces. In otherwords, manufacturing firms in Atlantic Canada were unaware of new available
technologies and their benefits, resulting in under-investment.
Atlantic Canada suffered from an uncompetitive business environment, due to highcorporate taxes in the region and the rising cost of business operations. Moreover, 32 percent of respondents believed that the federal and provincial governments were notadequately supporting the growth of their firms and that their support had been declining
over time.
The high cost of purchasing new technologies dissuaded firms from investing ininnovation. Along with the high cost, firms were uncertain of the economic return of newtechnologies and, thus, unwilling to adopt them.

A study by Mordue and Karmally (2020) also provides insight into a potential barrier to
R&D in manufacturing. The authors examine the relationship between the state of R&D in theauto industry in Canadian locations and these locations’ proximity to automakers’ headquarters.
Canada is not considered a core nation in the automotive industry, and does not host any
automaker’s corporate headquarters. The authors conclude that automakers tend to conduct R&D
in core automotive nations, nearby their global headquarters. More generally, this study may
suggest the importance of a region’s core versus periphery status in their propensity for R&D.
New Brunswick’s reliance on branch plants rather than large corporations has likely contributed
to its low business R&D.
Other studies have focused on Atlantic Canada’s dependence on the higher education
sector for R&D. Garlick, Davies, Polese, and Kitagawa (2006) assessed the role of higher
education institutions in Atlantic Canada’s level of innovation and economic development. As
discussed previously, the higher education sector accounts for the largest share of R&D in
Atlantic Canada and New Brunswick, while the business sector is the main performer in highly
innovative provinces, such as Ontario and Quebec. The authors noted that the primary industries
in Atlantic Canada—resource sectors, such as forestry, fishing, and mining—were not “major
consumers of university-based research,” the main performer of R&D performed in the region.
Consequently, Atlantic Canada had difficulty establishing relationships between the university
sector and industry, especially with respect to collaborations in R&D ventures. Similarly, theMaritime Provinces Higher Education Commission (2005) determined that the lack of researchlinkages between the business and university sectors in Atlantic Canada contributed to theregion’s weaker innovation environment. The authors concluded, “Without adequate businessSee also Emery’s op-ed “Does an aging population prevent entrepreneurship?” (2020b), which links New
Brunswick’s aging population and outmigration of young people with the province’s stagnant state of innovation.
40

75

sector involvement, the Atlantic region cannot hope to participate in national innovation in thesame way as other regions.”
Lastly, New Brunswick’s small immigrant population may have also contributed to theprovince’s poor innovation performance. In a study for Statistics Canada, Ostrovsky and Picot(2020) analyzed the relationship between immigrant status and innovation incidence in Canadianfirms. Using the Survey on Financing and Growth of Small and Medium Enterprises in 2011,2014, and 2017, the authors found that immigrant-owned firms were more likely than those
owned by the Canadian-born to implement a product or process innovation. More specifically,
immigrants were 8.6 per cent more likely to implement a product innovation, and 20.1 per centmore likely to implement a process innovation. The authors attributed these results to the higheducational attainment of immigrants. New immigrants are more likely to be university-educatedthan the Canadian-born, and university-educated immigrants are more likely to have studied a
STEM field. Firm owners with a STEM background are more likely to adopt new technologies,
particularly product or process innovations.
Chart 33 shows that New Brunswick ranked ninth in the share of very recent immigrants
and recent immigrants in the provincial population in 2019. Chart 34 shows that the provinceranked eighth in the share of immigrants in the provincial population who immigrated from 2018
to 2019. Thus, with a relatively smaller immigrant population and lower rate of immigration into
the province, New Brunswick would be unable to fully enjoy the strong innovation performance
fostered by immigrant-owned firms.
Chart 33: Immigrant Population in Canada by Province, 2019
Panel A: Very Recent Immigrants
Manitoba
Alberta
Saskatchewan
British Columbia
Ontario
CanadaPrince Edward Island
QuebecNova Scotia
New Brunswick
Newfoundland and Labrador

4.40
4.32

4.09
4.03
3.81
3.50
2.95
2.57
1.82
1.30
1.13
0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
3.5
% of Total Provincial Working-Age Population

76

4.0

4.5

5.0

Panel B: Recent Immigrants
Manitoba
Alberta
British Columbia
Ontario
CanadaSaskatchewan
QuebecPrince Edward Island
Nova Scotia
New Brunswick
Newfoundland and Labrador

5.28
4.59
4.48
4.37
3.87
3.74
2.97
1.24
1.03
0.65
0.57
0.0

1.0

2.0
3.0
4.0
% of Total Provincial Working-Age Population

5.0

6.0

Source: Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey, Table 14-10-0083-01
Note: “Very recent immigrants” refers to working-age immigrants who have settled in Canada for less than 5 years.
“Recent immigrants” refers to working-age immigrants who have settled in Canada between 5 and 10 years.

Chart 34: International Immigration in Canada by Province, 2018-2019
Prince Edward Island
Saskatchewan
Manitoba
Ontario
Alberta
British Columbia
CanadaNova Scotia
New Brunswick
QuebecNewfoundland and Labrador

1.44
1.18
1.16
0.95
0.93
0.85
0.83
0.66
0.65
0.53
0.32
0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6
0.8
1.0
% of Total Provincial Population

1.2

1.4

Source: Statistics Canada, Table 17-10-0014-01 & Table 17-10-0005-01

C. Recommendations to Enhance Innovation in Atlantic Canada and New
Brunswick
One of the most prevalent recommendations in the literature is increasing R&D
collaboration among the government, business, and higher education sectors in Atlantic Canada.
The Maritime Provinces Higher Education Commission (2005) advocated close interactions andresearch partnerships among the sectors to overcome the challenges of conducting R&D, such as
high costs, and to share the benefits of new innovations. A study by Saunders (2015) similarly
proposed enhanced collaborations between the business sector and academia in the Atlantic
provinces to stimulate innovation in firms. While the business sector could provide funding,higher education institutions could perform R&D and help firms apply the research to theirbusiness operations. Garlick, Davies, Polese, and Kitagawa (2006) also proposed a collaborative77

1.6

approach between sectors and regions to create a culture of innovation in Atlantic Canada. Morespecifically, they advocated creating a federal or provincial agency to help facilitate interactions
between research universities and industries.
Many studies proposed objectives to foster innovation in Atlantic Canada and New
Brunswick. For example, Decourcey, Casey, Fillmore, and Whalen (2017) recommended
numerous goals to enhance the innovation environment in Atlantic Canada. Recommendations
included improving access to capital through investment, increasing research collaborations
between the public and private sectors, expanding or improving existing government supports forinnovative businesses, and supporting research clusters. More specific to New Brunswick, theInnovation Working Group (2012) outlined five objectives to improve innovation in theprovince:
•
•
•
•
•

Increase the provincial government’s role in stimulating innovation in New Brunswick
Improve New Brunswick’s business conditions to increase competiveness and to attract
investment
Encourage innovative thinkers in the province by supporting entrepreneurship andstrengthening the relationship between the business and university sectors
Strengthen the province’s access to capital, skilled workers, and ideas
Improve collaboration among the business, higher education, and government sectors

78

III.

Summary and Conclusion

This section presents a summary and conclusion of this report. In particular, it provides
an overall assessment of the innovation situation in New Brunswick by summarizing the key
indicators discussed. We first assess the level of innovation in New Brunswick, then the trends ininnovation. Lastly, this section summarizes the barriers to innovation in the province and offers
concluding remarks.

A. Levels of Innovation
This report finds that New Brunswick’s innovation situation was weak. Overall, New
Brunswick ranked low among the provinces and below the national average for all indicators.
New Brunswick had particularly poor results for R&D spending and personnel in the businesssector, patents, and firm-based innovation statistics. However, there were exceptions in certain
sectors and types of investment. Most notably, New Brunswick ranked high among the provincesin the share of total R&D spending and share of total R&D personnel in the government andhigher education sectors. These results indicate a reliance on the public sector over the private
sector for R&D. Table 8 summarizes the key results for each indicator.
Table 8: Summary of the Level of Innovation in New Brunswick by Indicator

Indicator•

R&D Spending•••

R&D Personnel

Patents

Firm-Based
Innovation Statistics•

Findings
R&D spending per capita: Ranked low among provinces andbelow national average for total spending and for all performer
sectors% of GDP: Ranked low among provinces and below national
average for total spending and for all performer sectors% of total R&D spending: Ranked high in the higher educationand government sectors; ranked low in business sector% of total employment: Ranked low among provinces andbelow national average for total R&D personnel and for all
performer sectors% of total R&D personnel: Ranked high in the higher educationand government sectors; ranked low in business sector•

Number of patents: Ranked low among provinces••% of innovative firms: Ranked last among regions% of firms that use advanced technologies: Ranked last among
regions
Least likely to have firms implement any type of innovation

•

79

•
Non-Residential
Fixed Capital
Investment••
Investment inIntellectual Property
Products••
Business Entry% of GDP: Ranked low among provinces and below national
average for total investment and 2 of 4 investment types(engineering construction, and intellectual property products)% of total investment: Ranked low among provinces for 2 of 4
investment types (engineering construction and intellectual
property products)% of GDP: Ranked low among provinces and below national
average in 2 of 3 types of IPP (mineral exploration andevaluation, and R&D)
% of total IPP investment: Ranked low among provinces andbelow national average in 2 of 3 types of IPP (mineral
exploration and evaluation, and R&D)
Gross and net entry rates: Ranked low among the provinces andbelow the national average

B. Trends in Innovation
This report finds that New Brunswick’s innovation situation has generally improved overtime in absolute terms and relative to the Canadian average. In particular, the province improvedin five of seven indicators: R&D spending, R&D personnel, patents, firm-based innovation
statistics, and investment in intellectual property products. However, results for two indicators—
non-residential fixed capital investment and number of active businesses—deteriorated. Table 9summarizes the key trends for each indicator.
Table 9: Summary of the Trends in Innovation in New Brunswick by Indicator

Indicator•
R&D Spending••

R&D Personnel

Patents

Findings
Absolute change: Improved from 1981 to 2017 for total
spending and all performer sectors, except the government
sectorRelative change: Improved from 1981 to 2017 for total spending
and all performer sectors, except the government sector•

Absolute change: Improved from 2000 to 2013 for total
personnel and all performer sectors, except the government
sectorRelative change: Improved from 2000 to 2013 for total
personnel and all performer sectors, except the government
sector•Absolute change: Improved from 1980 to 2016
80

Firm-Based
Innovation Statistics

Non-Residential
Fixed Capital
Investment•

Absolute change: Improved from period 2010-2012 to 20152017•

Absolute change: Deteriorated from 1981 to 2018 for total
investment and all performer sectors, except intellectual
property products
Relative change: Deteriorated from 1981 to 2018 for total
investment and all performer sectors, except intellectual
property products••
Investment inIntellectual Property
Products••

Business Entry

Absolute change: Improved from 1981 to 2018 for all types of
IPP, except mineral exploration and evaluation
Relative change: Deteriorated from 1981 to 2018 for all types of
IPP, except total IPP and mineral exploration and evaluation
Absolute change: Number of active businesses deteriorated
from 2002 to 2017

C. Barriers to Innovation
Despite improving in recent years, New Brunswick’s state of innovation remains among
the weakest in Canada. Several barriers have dampened New Brunswick’s ability to develop aculture of innovation, as noted in the literature. Most barriers centre on financial issues, labour
shortage issues, and a lack of motivation among firms to innovate.
The following are eight key barriers to innovation in New Brunswick, as highlighted inthis report. First, New Brunswick has less R&D funding and access to capital compared to otherprovinces. Collaboration on R&D ventures among performer sectors is also lacking, particularly
between the higher education and business sectors. Industries in the province have relatively low
R&D intensity, and New Brunswick’s industrial structure is not conducive to R&D. At the firmlevel, businesses in New Brunswick are less interested in adopting new technologies, and manycite the high costs of purchasing and implementing new technologies as a major barrier toinnovating. Moreover, New Brunswick suffers from an uncompetitive business environment, due
to high corporate taxes and rising business costs, which deters innovation. Lastly, population
issues, including the out-migration of young educated people and low immigration flows, havecontributed to the lack of innovation in the province.
Due to these issues, New Brunswick’s innovation performance was poor relative to theother provinces. New Brunswick had especially low rankings in business R&D, patents, andfirm-level innovation—all of which are directly linked to the province’s barriers to innovation.
However, New Brunswick has shown great improvement in most innovation indicators. To
81continue this upward-trend, researchers and policymakers must prioritize finding solutions to thebarriers to innovation in New Brunswick.

82

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Appendix% of Canada's R&DSpending
per Capita

Appendix Chart 1: R&D Spending per Capita by Performer Sector in New Brunswick as a Share of
Canada’s, 2017
74.6

80
70

62.2

60
45.6

50
40
30

28.3

20
10
0
Business

Total R&D Spending per
CapitaHigher Education

Government

Source: Statistics Canada, Table 27-10-0273-01 & Table 17-10-0005-01

1.8
1.6
1.4
1.2
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0

1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017

% of Canada's R&D Spending

Appendix Chart 2: R&D Spending by Performer Sector in New Brunswick as a Share of Canada’s,
1981-2017
Panel A: Total R&D Spending

2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0

1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017

% of Canada's Spending

Panel B: Government

86

2
1.5
1
0.5
0

1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017

% of Canada's Spending

Panel C: Business

2
1.5
1
0.5
0

1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017

% of Canada's Spending

Panel D: Higher Education

Source: Statistics Canada, Table 27-10-0273-01

Appendix Chart 3: R&D Spending per R&D Employee by Performer Sector and Province, 2013
Panel A: Total R&D Spending per R&D Employee
Alberta
Nova Scotia
Newfoundland and Labrador
Prince Edward Island
Manitoba
Ontario
CanadaSaskatchewan
New Brunswick
QuebecBritish Columbia
0.00

0.18
0.17
0.16
0.15
0.14
0.14
0.14
0.14
0.13
0.13
0.13
0.02

0.04
0.06
0.08
0.10
0.12
0.14
0.16
R&D Spending per R&D Employee ($ millions / person)

87

0.18

0.20

Panel B: Government
OntarioPrince Edward Island
British Columbia
Alberta
Nova Scotia
Manitoba
CanadaNew Brunswick
Newfoundland and Labrador
Saskatchewan
Quebec
0.00

0.17
0.17
0.16
0.16
0.16
0.16
0.16
0.15
0.12
0.12
0.12
0.02

0.04
0.06
0.08
0.10
0.12
0.14
0.16
R&D Spending per R&D Employee ($ millions / person)

0.18

0.20

Panel C: Business
Alberta
Saskatchewan
Newfoundland and Labrador
CanadaOntario
QuebecManitoba
British Columbia
Prince Edward Island
New Brunswick
Nova Scotia
0.00

0.22
0.18
0.17
0.12
0.11
0.11
0.11
0.11
0.10
0.10
0.08
0.05
0.10
0.15
0.20
R&D Spending per R&D Employee ($ millions / person)

0.25

Panel D: Higher Education
Nova Scotia
Prince Edward Island
Ontario
CanadaManitoba
QuebecNewfoundland and Labrador
British Columbia
Alberta
New Brunswick
Saskatchewan
0.00

0.21
0.19
0.19
0.17
0.16
0.16
0.16
0.16
0.15
0.13
0.11
0.05
0.10
0.15
0.20
R&D Spending per R&D Employee ($ millions / person)

Source: Statistics Canada, Table 27-10-0273-01 & Table 27-10-0023-01

88

0.25

Appendix Chart 4: R&D Personnel by Performer Sector in New Brunswick as a Share of Canada’s,
2013% of Canada's R&D
Personnel

2.0

1.78
1.33

1.5
0.98

1.0
0.52
0.5
0.0
Business

Total performing sectors

Government

Higher education

Source: Statistics Canada, Table 27-10-0023-01

2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0

1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018

% of Canada'sNonResidential Investment

Appendix Chart 5: Type of Non-Residential Investment in New Brunswick as a Share of Canada’s,
1981-2018
Panel A: Total Non-Residential Investment

3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0

1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018

% of Canada'sNonResidential Investment

Panel B: Non-Residential Buildings

89

1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018

% of Canada'sNonResidential Investment

1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018

% of Canada'sNonResidential Investment
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018

% of Canada'sNonResidential Investment

Panel C: Engineering Construction
5

4

3

2

1

0

Panel D: Machinery and Equipment
3

2.5

2

1.5

0.5
1

0

Panel E: Intellectual Property Products

1.6
1.4
1.2
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0

Source: Statistics Canada, Table 36-10-0098-01

90Appendix Chart 6: Type of Investment as a Share of Total Investment in Intellectual Property
Products by Province, 2018
Panel A: Mineral Exploration and Evaluation
Newfoundland and Labrador
Saskatchewan
Nova Scotia
Alberta
British Columbia
CanadaQuebecManitoba
New Brunswick
OntarioPrince Edward Island

49.4
27.9
23.7
17.3
10.0
8.5
5.6
4.3
3.5
2.3
0.0
0

10

20
30
40
% of Investment in Intellectual Property Products

50

60

Panel B: Research and Development
QuebecManitoba
Prince Edward Island
Ontario
CanadaBritish Columbia
New Brunswick
Nova Scotia
Saskatchewan
Alberta
Newfoundland and Labrador

50.0
49.7
42.8
42.3
41.7
41.7
36.3
35.8
33.3
32.1
27.4
0

10

20
30
40
% of Investment in Intellectual Property Products

50

60

Panel C: Software
New Brunswick
Prince Edward Island
Ontario
AlbertaCanadaBritish Columbia
Manitoba
QuebecNova Scotia
Saskatchewan
Newfoundland and Labrador

60.3
57.2
55.5
50.6
49.8
48.4
45.9
44.4
40.5
38.8
23.2
0

10

20
30
40
50
% of Investment in Intellectual Property Products

Source: Statistics Canada, Table 36-10-0098-01

91

60

70

1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018

% of Canada's Investment
in Intellectual Property
Products

1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018

% of Canada's Investment
in Intellectual Property
Products

1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018

% of Canada's Investment
in Intellectual Property
Products

Appendix Chart 7: Type of Investment in Intellectual Property Products in New Brunswick as a
Share of Canada’s, 1981-2018
Panel A: Mineral Exploration and Evaluation
1.2

1.0

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0.0

Panel B: Research and Development

1.4
1.3
1.2
1.1
1.0
0.9
0.8
0.7
0.6

Panel C: Software

2.6
2.4
2.2
2.0
1.8
1.6
1.4
1.2
1.0

Source: Statistics Canada, Table 36-10-0098-01

92