Canada’s Natural Resources are the natural wealth of a country. These are found and not developed by mankind. Renewable or nonrenewable, natural resources can be the measurement of the progress and development of any country. Fortunately, Canada is having an abundant wealth of natural resources, with which its economy is growing rapidly day by day. Natural Resources of Canada play a vital role in developing job opportunities, in the growth of its economy, and also in providing better living standards to all Canadian citizens.
History of the natural resource industry.
The Geological Survey of Canada was created by the parliamentary legislature to prepare an inventory of the mineral wealth of Canada and assess it. The would and waters of the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec were observed. They gathered information on the mineral resources of every province and territory and determined which provinces in Canada could supper which industry.
The Federal and provincial governments as well as the legislative-assembly gave the GSC jurisdiction to carry out the giant task of the survey as new territories were becoming a part of Canada. The work was carried out in all Canadian provinces and territories. The specimens collected during these surveys by the geologists are now displayed in museums.
Key Natural Resources of Canada
Canada is the second-largest country having a vital and huge range of oil, minerals, water, natural gas. It is also having abundant amounts of natural resources like potash, uranium, wood, etc. These natural resources provide benefits to the federal-government of Canada at all levels.
Here we have compiled the main natural resources that occur in abundance in Canada.
Oil
Oil is the natural resource found in Canada in abundance. A notable amount of its oil deposit is in oil sands. It’s estimated to produce more than 173 billion barrels per year. In the whole world, on a ranking of the oil resources, Canada stands the third largest. Canada is the fourth biggest oil exporter in the world and its national prosperity can be measured by measuring the oil exports of the country. Saskatchewan, the province of Alberta as well as Newfoundland and Labrador are the main provinces of Canada known for main oil production. Alberta produces almost 80% of oil in Canada. The Canadian province of Saskatchewan also has abundant oil resources and produces about 13% of Canada’s oil.
Natural Gas
Another natural resource that can be found in abundance in the Canadian state is Natural Gas. It ranks 4th in production and ranks 5th in the exportation of natural gas in the world. The potential of natural gas production is about 1,225 trillion cubic feet in Canada. Today, almost all provinces and territories produce oil like Alberta, the province of British Columbia, Prince Edward Island, Quebec province, New Brunswick, the territory that is Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, Yukon-territory, Northwestern Territories as well as Ontario. Currently, large amounts of natural gas are produced in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin that is located in the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Alberta and the province of Saskatchewan.
Potash
In the year 2017, the production of potash in Canada was increased by 2.4 million tonnes to 20.3 million tonnes. Major sources of potash are the mines found in Saskatchewan and New Brunswick.
A large amount of potash is used to make fertilizers, almost 95 percent. Potash is also used in many other ways. Potash is used in the manufacturing of chemicals that contains potassium as well as in the production of ceramics, water pharmaceuticals and detergents. All around the world, Canada is the largest producer and exporter of potash which means almost 95% of the mined potash in the country is exported. Northern Saskatchewan is the province of Canada where large quantities of potash mines are found.
Iron Ore
Iron ore is the natural resource found in Canada in abundance. At almost 6 billion tonnes of iron ore, Canada is currently the 7th largest crude iron ore reserve in the global economy and measures about 2.2% production of the iron ore production of the world. It was 49 million tonnes in the year 2017
Located in the province of Canada, Quebec at 51%, Newfoundland and Labrador at 44% and Nunavut at 5% are known for production of iron ore in Canada. Iron ore is exported to the United States, Germany as well as to many European nations.
In the production of steel, iron ore is an important raw material. Steel production accounts for 98% of iron ore use. The remaining 2% goes into the production of paints, plastics and cosmetics, fertilizers for plants and crops, magnets used in various fields as well as auto parts.
Uranium
Uranium is the natural resource found in Canada in abundance. Canada is the 4th largest uranium reserve across the globe. It is the second-largest production country of uranium resources and was responsible for 1/5th of production of the world in the year 2014.
The vast majority of uranium resources exist in the provinces of Saskatchewan. Across the world, The McArthur River and Cigar Lake mines are the largest uranium mines. These are geographically present in the northern areas of the province. There is a large scale of production of uranium with the average being 10 to 100 times more than the world.
Coal
Canada is the world’s third-largest supplier to the global market of metallurgical coal. It is the world’s 16th largest resource. Canada produced 61 million tonnes of coal in the year 2017 and more than half of it was exported to other countries.
A major source of coal in Canada is found in the two provinces of British Columbia and Alberta. Vancouver, located on Canada’s west coast, used to be the largest exporter of coal to North America, exporting about 36.8 million tonnes in 2017.
Softwood Lumber.
Canada is known worldwide as a top exporter of softwood lumber along with that of newsprint. Only the forest sector of Canada contributed $24.6 billion to its national Gross Domestic Product, and it offered nearly 210,000 direct jobs across Canada. Almost 11,500 employees are working in this sector.
Quebec and Ontario are the territories of Canada that are the major hubs of forest industry jobs, about 52%. 39% of the jobs are taken up by the people in provinces of Western Canada like British Columbia and Alberta. Canada contains 30% of the world’s total forest land.
Water.
Water can be classified as one of the most important natural resources of Canada and essential for life on our planet. Fortunately, Canada has this natural resource in ample amounts. Canada houses about 20% of the 1,386 billion km² of freshwater across the globe. Only 7% of this water resource is renewable.
Facts about Canada’s Natural Resources
- Employment. Natural Resources have employed 1.9 million people directly or indirectly.
- Gross Domestic Product. Canada’s Natural Resources contributed to 16.9% of the Canadian GDP in 2019.
- Capital Expenditure. Companies related to natural resource industries in Canada invested $86 billion which amounts to 32% of the total non-residential investment in Canada.
- Major Products Investors. 459 major resource-related projects are under construction or planned to be built in Canada. This amounts to $589 billion in investments.
- Revenues to Government. The government has received $21.4 billion annually from 2014 to 2018 in revenue from natural resources.
- Exports. The experts from the natural resource industry of Canada were valued at $264 billion in 2019. This makes up to 48% of the total volume of goods exported.
- Canadian Assets Abroad. In 2018, the total value of Canada’s assets that are publicly-traded was $654 billion. Of these assets, $248 billion were located outside Canada in 146 countries.
- Resource Reliant Communities. 909 communities were reliant on a minimum of one natural resource sector for their livelihood. Of these communities, 609 are either significantly or highly dependent on a minimum of one natural resource.
- Energy Intensity. In 2017, Canada used less energy by 30% per dollar of GDP than in 1990.
- Clean Technology. In 2018, clean technologies, sustainable energy and goods and services related to the environment accounted for $66 billion and 3.2% of Canada’s national Gross Domestic Product and provided 317,000 jobs. Revenue from clean technologies, sustainable energy, and environment-related goods increased by 39.3% in ten years, while GDP contribution from sustainable technology alone increased by 46 per-cent in the same time period, 2008-2018.
Natural Resources and Economic Growth
Natural Resources of Canada give a sufficient ratio of crude oil and natural gas. This created more than 10,000 employments in Canada, the Canadian government feels proud of using these natural resources in a safe, efficient way.
Canada’s natural resources help to provide a secure and prosperous economy, by raising sufficient revenues for the government of Canada. This leads to the government spending large amounts of money to provide health, safety and education to all the Canadians.
Canada’s Natural resources are the life long assets for all citizens. Authorities of Canada’s Natural Resources are also committed to the safe use of natural resources in future by which they can protect the environment and increase jobs and investment by the innovative use of natural resources and technology.