Taking action in support of our vital natural resource sector

Canada’s diverse landscapes provide Canadians with the opportunity to enjoy a full spectrum of summer activities and events. From mountain climbing in the Rockies to boating on the Great Lakes, natural resources are the foundation for products that make all these enjoyable activities possible.

With summer around the corner, we'd like to provide you with several examples of "summer" products made using a wide range of natural resources, many of which are extracted in Canada.

Keep reading for more than 80 examples of how natural resources allow us to partake in the summer activities we love! Also see:

• 60+ Essential Products Made Possible by Canadian Forestry
• How Are Natural Resources Used in the Transportation Industry?
• Where Does Your Turkey Dinner Come From?

Oil & Gas Summer Products

Agriculture Summer Products

Forestry Summer Products

Mining Summer Products

Summer Activities & Natural Resources

How else do natural resources make our modern day summer activities possible?! Here are a few great examples:

• Canadian national parks are one of our country’s best assets and most obvious arenas to explore our vast wilderness. In the 2019-20 season, over 16.15 million people visited Canada’s parks! Many hiking and biking trails utilize wood pathways to make outdoor activities safer for the public.

• Canadians enjoy activities such as hiking, biking and camping in the summer months, all made possible by natural resources. Whether it’s your hiking shoe, pop-up tent, or motor vehicle that got you to your destination, all goods we use to perform summer activities come from natural resources in one way or another.

• Hikers often pack enough food and drink to sustain themselves for the duration of the trip, products which are made possible by the agricultural sector. And if you have a snack or drink from Europe, for example, then that product was imported via petroleum fuels.

• Electric scooters have become a summer favourite for city-dwelling Canadians. The frames of e-scooters are often made of aluminum, which Canada is the fourth-largest producer. In fact, Canada also produces aluminum with one of the lowest carbon footprints in the world primarily due to our use of renewably generated hydropower.

• Solar panels are made from mined materials and petroleum by-products. While it may seem obvious, solar panels located across Canada generate significantly greater amounts of electricity in the summer than the winter. Longer daylight hours and reduced precipitation levels are both contributing factors.

• Banff National Park is Canada’s oldest park, established in 1885, connected to the rest of the country by the 7,821 kilometre-long Trans-Canada Highway. As the second-largest national highway in the world, Canadian oil & gas has fuelled the building, maintenance, and continued upkeep of the Trans-Canada for well over a century!

• Birch, spruce, and cedar plants were original materials used to construct canoes in Canada. Today, petroleum products such as plastics and polyfibres are typically used to construct these devices. To build canoes in the 18th century was no small feat, a service reserved for master canoeists. While canoes today are not primarily used for basic transportation or trade, they are central to water activities for Canadians and Indigenous Peoples across the country!

• Smartphones act as a global positioning system (GPS) which helps us get to and from our summer destinations. Rare earth minerals are an essential component of modern smartphones; Canada is home to an estimated 14 million tonnes of rare earth oxides. 

Enjoy Your Summer!

Summer activities are all made possible by natural resources from the energy, forestry, mining and agriculture sectors!

This summer, we encourage you to take a moment to appreciate the products that make the warmer months of the year as enjoyable as they are!

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