Investment in research and development by Canada's top-spending corporations declined last year by 3.8 per cent, according to a survey released Monday.
Research Infosource, a unit of the Impact Group, found that spending by the top 100 R&D companies fell to $11.4 billion, down from $11.9 billion in 2005.
The decline came after two straight years of increases, which saw investment grow by 4.9 per cent in 2005 and 3.0 per cent in 2004.
Among the nine biggest spenders, six reported reductions in 2006.
Nortel Networks Corp. maintained its hold in first place with R&D expenditures of $2.2 billion, down 2.2 per cent from the previous year.
BCE Inc. remained second at $1.4 billion, down 13 per cent, while Magna International Inc. ranked third at $652.1, despite cutting spending by 20.8 per cent.
Pratt & Whitney Canada boosted spending by 1.9 per cent to $481 million while fifth-place ATI Technologies Inc. invested $458.2 million, up 1.5 per cent.
R&D spending as a proportion of revenue also slipped to 3.5 per cent, down from 3.7 per cent in 2005.
"The corporate sector is not positioning itself for the future," Research Infosource chief executive Ron Freedman said in a release.
"It's disappointing that in a buoyant economy where companies are facing growing competition, that they are cutting back on their innovation spending," he said.
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http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2007/10/22/research-spending.html
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