Release of the Canadian Research and Development Classification
Posted on: Oct 6, 2020
On October 5th, Statistics Canada released the Canadian Research and Development Classification. This is an initiative that spans several government organizations, including the Tri-Agency and CFI. CUE Research would like the community to review the information on this new classification, and learn how this will apply to their research activities.
“This new standard will provide a common language for discussing and categorizing research activities and investments in Canada. It will serve as the recommended classification system for the research and development community, including government and higher education.
The CRDC system was jointly developed by Statistics Canada, the Canada Foundation for Innovation, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, and in consultation with the Office of the Chief Science Advisor. The agencies benefitted from valuable input from Canada’s research and development community.
Based on sound, established and internationally recognized approaches, the new standard will align Canada with international standards. It is also expected to replace a number of different classifications used across the federal granting agencies. This will improve statistics on Canada’s research and development contributions and make it easier to evaluate Canada’s research investments.
The CRDC includes three interrelated classifications: type of activity; field of research; and socio-economic objective.”