Energy industry
As a country starting with letter C according to countryaah, Canada has a wide range of energy sources and is an energy exporter despite high self-consumption. In 2017, primary energy consumption was 348.7 million t. RÖE; the share of mineral oil in primary energy production was 31.1%, natural gas 28.5%, hydropower 25.8%, coal 5.3% and nuclear power 6.3%. The majority of electricity generation is based on hydropower, 22% on thermal power and around 14% on nuclear power. However, there are regional differences: Around 95% of Quebec is supplied by hydro energy, especially from the power plants on James Bay in the north, and can also export to the USA. Manitoba and British Columbia are also largely supplied by hydro energy. In Ontario nuclear power plays a special role, while in Alberta and Saskatchewan there are mainly thermal power plants. Canada leads the world in per capita energy consumption. The manufacturing industry and households have high consumption, not least because of the long and cold winters.
Industry
19% of the workforce is employed in the manufacturing industry (including the construction industry) (2018); they generate around 27% of GDP. The more recent development in the industrial sector is determined by a shift in the raw materials and production goods industry, such as cellulose / paper and metal industry, in favor of the processing industries. Vehicle construction, the chemical industry, mechanical engineering, the steel industry and increasingly also key industries in the high-tech sector are important. The export share of industrial products has risen to around 60%, in 1980 it was still 25%. The most important customers are the USA. The main locations of the industry are in southern Ontario (especially in the so-called Golden Horseshoe from Toronto to Hamilton) and southern Quebec with the metropolitan areas of Toronto and Montreal. The focus of the high-tech industry is, among others. Ottawa and the Kitchener-Waterloo region. The industry in the west (British Columbia and Alberta) is even more resource-oriented. The Atlantic provinces are less industrialized; the regional economy depends heavily on natural resources and their processing.
Service
With (2018) 78.8% of the workforce and around 70% share of GDP, the service sector has developed into the dominant economic sector, especially since the 1960s. Locations, especially for upscale, business-related services, are primarily the metropolises of Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and Ottawa, in which half of the employees from the areas of finance, insurance and real estate are concentrated, as well as the provincial capitals. Trade, health and social services are other employment-intensive areas.
Tourism: Attractive nature and pleasant opportunities to travel and stay are Canada’s preferred attributes as a travel destination. In addition to a pronounced domestic tourism, numerous visitors from abroad are also attracted. The number of guests was (2015) 27.6 million. About 80% of the visitors came from the USA; other important countries of origin are Great Britain, France, Germany, China, Japan and Australia. Almost half of all visitors travel to Ontario, around a quarter to British Columbia. Preferred destinations are the national parks, especially in the western mountains, such as B. Banff National Park and Jasper National Park, but also the metropolitan areas of Toronto and Vancouver as well as target areas of the famous “Indian Summer” in the east of the country.
Transportation
In view of the size and the economic and social structure, the transport system is of paramount importance for the economic development of the country. Since the population and economy are concentrated in the southern part of the country, there is a relatively dense transport network here, with connections to the settlements and business locations in the north.
In the 19th century, the railroad with east-west connections promoted the settlement of the west and the political unification of the country. Today there are around 50 regional companies, the Canadian National Railway (CN) and the Canadian Pacific Railway (CP). The two are used exclusively for freight traffic. The strongly declining national passenger traffic between the big cities is handled by VIA Rail Canada, founded in 1978. Unprofitable secondary lines are being dismantled in the route network; important connections, some of which run through the USA, are being modernized, e. B. through the new tunnel between Sarnia (Province of Ontario) and Port Huron (US state of Michigan).
Modern passenger and container traffic is increasingly shifting to roads, waterways and airways. The approximately 17,000 km of freeways include the Trans-Canada Highway between Saint John’s on Newfoundland and Victoria on the island of Vancouver in British Columbia with a length of 7,821 km.
The St. Lawrence Seaway, which was expanded in 1959, with a total length of 3 770 km, plays a special role in shipping. among others to the Thunder Bay grain port. Due to icing, the sea route is not navigable for an average of three to four months a year, but traffic on the Great Lakes is maintained. The most important ports in Canada are Vancouver, Sept-Îles (mainly iron ore exports), Saint John (New Brunswick) and Port Cartier.
Air traffic, which is operated by the Air Canada route, is of great importance. There are also various regional companies and numerous smaller companies that fly to destinations in the north, mainly from the bases in Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg and Montreal. The main international airports are Lester Pearson / Toronto, Vancouver, Trudeau / Montreal and Calgary.