Ontario

III

Economic Activities

Ontario has the largest and most diversified economy of any Canadian province. It is a major manufacturing and agricultural center and has one of the highest incomes per capita of any province. Ontario’s economic success is based on advantages such as its plentiful natural resources, cheap power, a skilled and well-educated workforce, and convenient transportation links to markets elsewhere in Canada, the United States, and overseas.

In 2005 Ontario’s gross domestic product (GDP) was C$537.7 billion, or two-fifths of the Canadian total; by comparison the figure in 1990-1991 was C$280.6 billion. Per capita income in Ontario in 2001 was C$35,185, and the distribution of GDP among economic sectors was 2 percent primary (extractive industries such as mining, fishing, and forestry), 32 percent secondary (manufacturing and construction activity), and 66 percent service (including information services, real estate, and banking and financial services).

In the late 19th century Ontario’s agricultural economy began to diversify with the development of commercial and manufacturing industries. These growth areas were greatly enhanced by the concurrent development of hydroelectric power and the exploitation of the mineral wealth of Ontario’s massive portion of the Canadian Shield. A growing population provided a capable labor force and a large domestic market for goods and services. This was expanded by the growth of trade with overseas countries, other Canadian provinces, and most importantly the United States.

Roughly speaking, Ontario can be divided into three economic regions. The north is the storehouse for the province’s mineral wealth and the center of extractive industries. The south and especially the southwest is an agricultural region. Heavy industry and manufacturing were traditionally clustered near Windsor on the Detroit River and in the area near the western edge of Lake Ontario. However, the ease of modern transportation has changed this concentration, and manufacturing and assembly plants are now located throughout the southern reaches of the province.

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A

Employment and Labor

The Ontario labor force contains 6.9 million people and makes up two-fifths of the total Canadian workforce. It is highly diversified, highly skilled, and well educated. About 25 percent of Ontario’s workforce is employed in government, education, health care, the arts, culture, and recreation; 25 percent in manufacturing and construction; and almost 15 percent in wholesale and retail trade. Also, 11 percent of Ontario’s workforce is employed in managerial, business, finance, and administrative positions; about 3 percent in primary activities such as fishing, agriculture, and mining; and the remainder in trades, transport, scientific and technical positions, food and accommodation services, and other occupations. English is the working language of most businesses in Ontario, with French as the next most important language. However, more than 50 other major languages are spoken, which gives Ontario advantages in international business dealings. The unemployment rate for 2006 in Ontario was 6.5 percent, compared to the Canadian average of 7 percent.

B

Economic Sectors

Ontario is Canada’s richest province. It leads the nation in manufacturing, producing more than half of Canada’s manufactured goods and four-fifths of the country’s exports. The economy, however, is both balanced and diversified, with agriculture, forestry, and mining making important contributions. Knowledge-intensive industries are among the fastest-growing in the economy and the financial and service sectors are robust.

B

1

Agriculture

Ontario is a major producer of corn, lamb, fruit, soybeans, nursery plants and flowers, poultry, eggs, and vegetables. Production of beef cattle, hogs, winter wheat, and general dairy products (especially cheese) are also significant.

About one quarter of Canada’s farms are located in Ontario. In 2001 there were 59,728 farms, compared with 68,630 in 1991. The average farm size was 92 hectares (227 acres). About 90 percent of the farmland in Ontario is in the southern part of the province.

In its early history, Ontario was a region of general farming, mostly on a near-subsistence level. Wheat began to be planted as a cash crop in the 1820s, with much of it being exported to Britain (and later to the United States and other parts of Europe). Since that time, because of urbanization, industrialization, and the opening of western Canada as a grain-growing region, southern Ontario has developed a more diversified agriculture. Now, mixed farming (the combination of crop cultivation and livestock raising), coupled with strong local specializations and marketing, prevail in the area.

The growth of urban centers in Ontario led to the concentration of dairy farming nearby. There are two major dairy-farming regions in the province. One is in the broad belt of land from Oshawa, which is near Toronto, to London, which is the most populous part of the province. The other area is in the St. Lawrence Lowlands between Ottawa and Cornwall. Ontario’s cheese plants are the chief outlet for the milk produced, and much of Canada’s cheese production is concentrated in these lowlands.

Fruit is grown in several areas along the shores of the Great Lakes. The two most important of these areas are the Niagara fruit belt, between Hamilton and the Niagara River, and the lakeshore fruit and vegetable belt, between Hamilton and Toronto. The Niagara belt specializes in cherries, pears, peaches, grapes, and plums. Wineries are also concentrated there. The lakeshore belt produces mainly apples and berries and a variety of truck crops (see Truck Farming) for nearby cities. These two zones are threatened by the increasing development of residential suburbs, and there is concern for their future as agricultural regions. A region of less intense specialization stretches from Toronto along Lake Ontario to the Kingston area. Here apples and cannery crops such as sweet corn, tomatoes, and peas are important.

Tobacco is grown commercially from near Windsor to Cobourg on Lake Ontario but is most concentrated in the sandy soils north of Lake Erie, in the Saint Thomas–Tillsonburg-Simcoe area. Most of the Canadian domestic tobacco crop is produced there.

In Essex and Kent counties, in the extreme southwest, farming centers on the growing of corn, sugar beets, tobacco, cannery crops, and fresh fruits and vegetables. The warm waters of Lake Erie affect the climate of the surrounding area, making it well suited for growing grapes. As such, Point Pelee and Pelee Island, located on the lake, are known for their wineries. Tomatoes are grown in greenhouses that are under contract to juice-producing plants in Leamington and Chatham. Sugar refineries are found in Chatham and Wallaceburg. Some of the best agricultural lands in this area have been developed through the drainage of marshland.

Between the regions of specialized agriculture and the margins of the Canadian Shield is a zone of general farming and livestock production. Cattle, dairy products, and hogs are the main sources of farm income. Corn and soybeans are important cash crops. Hay, clover, and alfalfa take up the largest part of the cropland in this zone, although canola (rapeseed) is also important. The reclaimed Holland Marsh between Toronto and Lake Simcoe and the Thedford Marsh northeast of Sarnia are devoted to a variety of vegetables (the former serving the large Toronto market nearby), while grain and clover seed are produced in the Ottawa Valley in the Renfrew area. Apples are grown commercially east of Owen Sound along Nottawasaga Bay.

In the Canadian Shield area of northern Ontario, farming is scattered in small patches. There are few full-time farmers in the north. The majority of farms are located in the several clay belts within the shield. The frost-free season is short and unreliable, and rain tends to occur in late summer during the harvest period. In such an area, the choice of crops is limited mainly to hay, potatoes, and root crops.

B

2

Fur Production

The fur trade was the economic magnet that first drew Europeans to Ontario, but it is now of only marginal importance to the economy of the province. Still, Ontario remains one of the largest fur producers in Canada. Beaver, raccoon, muskrat, otter, and marten are the leading animals trapped. Fur gathering is largely confined to northern areas, but some southern swamp and marsh areas yield muskrat. Fur farming is also important in Ontario, accounting for three-fifths of the value of all furs produced in the province. Mink, fox, and chinchillas are raised on fur farms.