Global natural resource demand is growing.
Canada's economy is struggling and largely dependent on a single trading partner - the U.S.
We must build new pipelines, ports, power lines, railways, and roads to secure our economic future.
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#1 - The World Needs More Canadian-Made Natural Resources
Facing U.S. tariffs, it’s time for us to get behind our job-creating, prosperity-generating natural resources sector to make life more affordable for Canadians and take control of our economic future.
Global demand for oil, natural gas, forestry, agriculture, and mining products is growing. If we don’t supply these resources to the world, another country will, and Canadians will lose out on massive employment and economic opportunities we can't afford to miss.
Ceding global resource market share to less transparent and less regulated producers does not make the world a better place.
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#2 - Canada's Economy is Struggling -- Natural Resources Can Help
With a struggling economy that may be exacerbated by U.S. tariffs, Canadians can no longer afford to miss out on the increased development and export of our natural resources. Accounting for:
- 15% of jobs [1]
- 21% of our economy [1]
- 50% of our exports [1]
- 45% of our manufacturing output [2]
…natural resources are an economic powerhouse that can help make life more affordable for Canadians.
Our energy, forestry, mining, and agriculture sectors create immense economic opportunities and generate vast government revenues to pay for our healthcare, education, law enforcement, and social programs [1], helping to maintain our standard of living.
These sectors help fund our schools, hospitals, and roads and also “pay the bills” for our imports of goods and services.
For example, Canada's cumulative trade deficit over the past decade was $130 billion. Without our oil and gas exports, our deficit would have ballooned to $1 trillion [5].
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#3 - Canada is the Best Choice for the World's Resource Needs
Canada’s export-based economy faces many challenges including low productivity, regulatory uncertainty, weak business investment, and a lack of diversification of trading partners.
Our gross domestic product (GDP) per capita has fallen for the fifth consecutive quarter [3], and our country has the second-lowest productivity of the G7 Nations [4].
By supporting the natural resources sector – we can help solve these challenges [1] and create a better, brighter, and more prosperous future for Canadians.
As long as the world needs energy, forestry, mining, and agriculture products, they should be produced by Canada – benefitting Canadians economically while underpinning a more stable and resource-secure world.
Let's support the Canadian and Indigenous workers who comprise our resource sectors and work together towards a more prosperous future for our families.
SOURCES:
1 – Canadian Chamber of Commerce (2024 September). Investing in natural resources sector a solution to Canada’s productivity problem, report says. [Web Page]. Date Accessed: September 24, 2024. Retrieved from https://chamber.ca/news/investing-in-natural-resources-sector-a-solution-to-canadas-productivity-problem-report-says/
2 - Macdonald-Laurier Institute. (2024 August). Canada's Resource Sector, Protecting the Golden Goose. [Web Page]. Retrieved from: https://macdonaldlaurier.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/20240402_Canada-Golden-Goose-CrossMintz_PAPER-v9-FINAL.pdf
3 - Bank of Canada. (2024 March). The productivity problem. [Web Page]. Retrieved from https://www.bankofcanada.ca/2024/03/productivity-problem/
4 - Statistics Canada. (2024 August). Gross domestic product, income and expenditure, second quarter 2024. [Web age]. Retrieved from https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/240830/dq240830a-eng.htm
5 - Canadian Chamber of Commerce - Economic Impact Study - Canada's Conventional Oil and Natural Gas Sector (Date Accessed: June 2024). Retrieved from: https://bdl-lde.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/CAPP_EconomicAnalysis_March2024.pdf