How much does the Ontario government spend on research funding?
The Government of Ontario’s Ministry of Colleges and Universities funds critical research at colleges, universities, and research hospitals and institutes across the province. In 2024-2025, the Ministry of Colleges and Universities committed $148,523,064 in research funding, about $90 million less than the year before. Between the 2019-2020 and 2024-2025 fiscal years, it has committed more than $772 billion to support early-stage and advanced-stage projects. Annual research funding fluctuates from a low of $34,600,058 in 2019-2020 to a high of $238,581,177 in 2023-2024.
Funding recipients include leading research facilities such as the University of Toronto, Waterloo University, McMaster University, University Health Network, Lambton College of Applied Arts and Technology, and the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research. Projects range from medical to technological and from social to agricultural. The Ministry of Colleges and Universities’ contributions comprise more than a quarter of the total cost of the research projects undertaken at the 50-plus public institutions across Ontario since the 2019-2020 fiscal year.
Types of research funding
Research grants fall under three categories: Ontario Research Fund - Research Infrastructure; Ontario Research Fund - Research Excellence; and Early Researcher Awards.
The Ontario Research Fund – Research Excellence (ORF–RE) offers money to research institutions to help cover the costs of important projects that benefit the province. The fund covers up to one-third of a project's total cost, while the rest comes from private companies and institutions.
The Ontario Research Fund – Research Infrastructure offers valuable financial support to research institutions, enabling them to address various infrastructure needs. This funding helps institutions maintain and upgrade modern facilities and acquire advanced equipment for cutting-edge research.
The Early Researcher Awards program provides important funding to new and emerging researchers working at publicly funded research institutions in Ontario. This support helps them build and develop their research teams, fostering collaboration and innovation in their early careers.
Which institutions receive the most funding?
Between 2019-2020 and 2024-2025, four out of every five dollars from the Ministry of Colleges and Universities flowed to Ontario’s universities. Research hospitals were the second largest recipients of research funding, accounting for $134,168,749 or 17% of all funds committed. Colleges received the third-most amount of funding, followed by research institutes.
Among institutions, the University of Toronto, one of the leading research centres in Canada, received the most research funding. Its research teams received a combined $162,502,869 between 2019-2020 and 2024-2025 to fund their projects, representing just over one-fifth of all the funds dispersed by the Ministry of Colleges and Universities through its research funding programs. The University of Ottawa is second, followed by the University of Waterloo. Rounding out the top five are McMaster University and Queen’s University. Universities dominate the top ten, occupying seven spots, with the remaining going to three research hospitals — Hospital for Sick Children, University Health Network, and Sinai Health Network.
The Ministry of Colleges and Universities is just one of many government entities supporting research throughout the province. We’ll be diving into other Ontario research grants and programs to get a fuller picture of amount of money the Government of Ontario spends on research funding.
