What Natural Resources Does Ontario Have in Abundance?

What Natural Resources Does Ontario Have in Abundance?

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What Natural Resources Does Ontario Have in Abundance cover

Key Takeaways

  • Agriculture: Ontario's AG and agri-food sectors support nearly 585,000 jobs and contribute close to $36 billion to provincial GDP.
  • Mining: Ontario's mining sector employed nearly 150,000 people and sits atop the mineral-rich Ring of Fire, one of the most significant untapped critical mineral deposits in the world.
  • Nuclear Power: Ontario's nuclear sector generates roughly 15% of Canada's total electricity and is projected to contribute approximately $160 billion to GDP through its refurbishment and new-build program.
  • Renewables: Ontario leads all Canadian provinces in installed wind capacity and holds around 80% of Canada's total solar capacity.
  • Forestry: Ontario is home to one-fifth of Canada's forests, with a forestry sector that supports over 128,000 jobs and generates $21.6 billion in revenue in 2023.
  • Fresh Water: Ontario's 250,000+ lakes hold approximately one-fifth of the world's fresh surface water, supplying drinking water and economic opportunity to more than 30 million people.

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Ontario isn’t just Canada’s most populous province – it’s also one of the country’s richest areas when it comes to natural resources. From farms and forests to critical minerals, nuclear power, renewables, and an incredible supply of freshwater, Ontario has the building blocks to drive jobs, investment, and exports for generations to come.

Below, we look at how these natural resources underpin Ontario’s economy today and why developing them matters for the province, and for a stronger and more prosperous future for Canada as a whole.

Agriculture in Ontario

Ontario’s agriculture sector is often overlooked, playing a massive role in the provincial economy. The province leads Canada in total farm area for key crops such as soybeans, corn for grain, and winter wheat. It also dominates the country’s greenhouse production, accounting for nearly two-thirds of the national greenhouse area [1].

Across the province, farms and agri-food businesses support nearly 585,000 jobs including direct, indirect, and induced employment, making it a critical employer in both rural and urban communities [3]. This activity adds nearly $36 billion to Ontario’s gross domestic product (GDP) annually, positioning agriculture as an important economic engine [3]. The province’s top three crop and livestock commodities by farm cash receipts between 2020 and 2024 were vegetables and dairy at $2.6 billion per year each, and soybeans at $2.3 billion per year [2]. From greenhouses bursting with vegetables to fields of soybeans and dairy barns, Ontario’s farms produce enormous value.

Together, these outputs drive jobs, exports, and food security, making agriculture a cornerstone of Ontario’s economy and a vital contributor to Canada’s natural resource success story [1][2][3].

Mining in Ontario

Located below Ontario’s surface lies another powerhouse of prosperity: abundant mining reserves that include gold, copper, nickel, zinc, palladium, chromite, platinum group elements, and more.  The sector anchors entire communities, contributing $23.8 billion to the provincial economy and employing nearly 150,000 people across the province in 2023, with average compensation of about $150,000 CAD per year—almost double that of all other industries [5].

What makes Ontario’s mining story even more exciting is the future potential. The Ring of Fire—a 28,000 square-kilometre mineral-rich region in the north—could support 70,000 jobs and unlock billions of dollars in additional GDP for the province as new projects move from concept to reality [9]. With strong global demand for critical minerals and metals, the expedited development of these resources represents a massive opportunity to grow exports, support regional communities, and be a go-to resource for modern technology supply chains, making mining a pillar of Ontario’s long-term prosperity [4][5][9].

Nuclear Power in Ontario

When people think about electricity power in Ontario, they often picture hydro dams or wind turbines—but nuclear is the quiet giant keeping the lights on. Ontario is home to the vast majority of Canada’s 17 operational nuclear reactors, providing 12.7 GWe of capacity and generating roughly 15% of Canada's total electricity [6]. The province is also the hub for uranium processing in Canada, housing the only refinery and conversion facility in the country [16].

It is also home to almost all of Canada’s current nuclear reactor projects, including the Pickering Refurbishment, Darlington SMRs, and the proposed Bruce C and Wesleyville initiatives. Ontario’s nuclear refurbishment and build-out plan is projected to contribute about $160 billion to Canada’s GDP during construction and the first 30 years of operation. It will also support tens of thousands of job opportunities, while providing affordable, low-carbon power that underpins industry, households, and future electrification of the Canadian economy [6][7][8][9].

Renewables in Ontario

Ontario is no stranger to renewable energy, leading all Canadian provinces in installed wind capacity, with roughly 5,500 MW of wind power currently online—the largest fleet in the country [10]. On the solar front, Ontario holds around 80% of Canada’s total installed solar capacity, making it by far the country’s dominant solar province [10].

Hydropower remains another backbone of Ontario’s power grid. In 2024, hydroelectricity accounted for around 25% of the province’s total electricity output, making it the second-largest source of generation after nuclear power and a key partner in integrating intermittent wind and solar [10][12]. Together, these resources position Ontario as a leader in renewable energy expertise, technology, and exportable know-how that can support the deployment of such technologies provincially and across Canada [10][11][12].

Forestry in Ontario

Stretching across most of the province, Ontario’s forests are far more than beautiful natural scenery—they’re a major economic engine and a lifeline for many communities. In 2023, the forestry sector generated $21.6 billion in revenue from the sale of manufactured goods and services, while in 2024, it supported over 128,000 direct and indirect jobs [9]. Ontario’s forests cover 70.5 million hectares, representing 66% of the province’s land area and 20% of all forests in Canada, underscoring just how vast this natural resource base is [14].

Forests are an inherent part of day-to-day life for many Ontarians, particularly in remote areas where wood products, forestry jobs, and related industries sustain families and regional economies. With such extensive forest cover and a strong manufacturing base, Ontario’s forestry sector provides critical building materials, supports rural development, and plays a central role in both the provincial and national resource economy [9][14].

Fresh Water in Ontario

If Ontario’s forests are its lungs, its abundant freshwater reserves are the lifeforce that keeps Canadians and industry thriving. More than 30 million people in the Great Lakes basin rely on the province’s lakes for drinking water, jobs, industry, and recreation. Across the province, there are more than 250,000 lakes that together hold roughly one-fifth of the world’s fresh surface water, a truly remarkable concentration of a critical global resource that is in increasingly scarce supply [14].

This water wealth is not just a life-sustaining asset—it’s a strategic advantage for residents, businesses, and ecosystems alike. About 25% of Canada’s entire population lives within the Lake Ontario watershed alone, making it one of the most densely populated and ecologically important freshwater basins in the country [15]. With such abundant and vital freshwater resources, Ontario is uniquely positioned to support communities, agriculture, manufacturing, and recreation, reinforcing water as one of the province’s most important natural resource endowments [13][14][15].

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SOURCES:

1 - https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/220615/dq220615a-eng.htm

2 - https://agriculture.canada.ca/en/sector/overview

3 - https://ofa.on.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Report-on-Economic-impact-of-Ontario-farming-OFA.pdf

4 - https://www.oma.on.ca/ontario-mining/economic-contribution/

5 - https://www.oma.on.ca/media/jy3f0tgd/oma-economic-published-march-2025-final.pdf

6 - https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/country-profiles/countries-a-f/canada-nuclear-power

7 - https://www.brucepower.com/2026/01/19/bruce-c-project-would-deliver-major-economic-boost-create-and-sustain-thousands-of-jobs-strengthen-energy-independence-occ-economic-impact-analysis-finds/

8 - https://news.ontario.ca/en/release/1006772/ontario-greenlights-pickering-nuclear-generating-station-refurbishment-to-create-nearly-37000-jobs

9 - https://budget.ontario.ca/2025/fallstatement/chapter-1b-economy.html

10 - https://www.cer-rec.gc.ca/en/data-analysis/energy-markets/provincial-territorial-energy-profiles/provincial-territorial-energy-profiles-ontario.html

11 - https://renewablesassociation.ca/news-release-the-stage-is-set-for-the-future-of-canadas-wind-solar-and-energy-storage-industry/

12 - https://www.ieso.ca/Learn/Ontario-Electricity-Grid/Supply-Mix-and-Generation

13 - https://www.glc.org/wp-content/uploads/GLC-2024-Annual-Report-web.pdf

14 - https://www.ontario.ca/page/about-ontario

15 - https://greatlakes.guide/watersheds/ontario

16 - https://natural-resources.canada.ca/energy-sources/nuclear-energy-uranium/uranium-canada