Research funding at Hamilton Health Sciences jumped 47 per cent between 2012 and 2013, shows a new report released Wednesday.

The annual Canada's Top 40 Research Hospitals List ranks hospitals according to their success attracting financial support for research. The firm Research Infosource Inc. publishes the report, which the Council of Academic Hospitals of Ontario called "a barometer for the research hospital sector in Canada."

"Health research makes Canada healthier, wealthier and smarter," that council's executive director, Karen Michell, said in a statement. "It leads to better care at reduced cost, new economic opportunities through research commercialization and evidence-informed ways of improving patient care."

Hamilton, with $182.1 million in research resources in fiscal year 2013, ranked second behind Toronto's University Health Network, which had $312.3 million available. But Hamilton Health Sciences had more money per researcher than Toronto. View the city-by-city breakdown here.

Hamilton Health Sciences Research Administration spokeswoman Branka Vidovic said the agency didn't include funding received separately by McMaster University in previous years. She attributed the jump in the 2013 funding largely to the fact that HHS began reporting a combined research funding total for the new report.

The total research funding available across Canada's hospitals showed a "somewhat disappointing" gain between 2012 and 2013, just 1.1 per cent, but that picture comprised large hospitals showing larger gains and smaller institutions seeing drops in funding.