Issue
Ontario, committed to developing as a knowledge and technology supplier to the world and currently Canada’s leading mining jurisdiction, lacks a comprehensive strategy to make mining and the mineral sector a key component of its continued growth on the world stage. Further, that provincial education and research related to mining is scattered in small programs largely in southern Ontario, so that no institution or region has the critical mass to attract the best students and researchers from around the world and hence to drive technical and economic development.
Background
Ontario, Canada’s largest producer of metals and supplier of technology and services to the mining industry nationally and globally, exported approximately $12.6 billion worth of metal, minerals and metal products in 2003.
The production of metals and metal products make up the second largest sector in Ontario’s real gross domestic product for the major manufacturing sectors at 14.45%. Mining is second only to transportation equipment (22%), and almost as large as oil and petroleum products (9.52%) and plastic and rubber products (7.72%) combined. The sector accounts for 14% of Ontario’s goods-producing labour force, employing 23,300 people in 2003. Approximately 80% of Ontario’s metals and metals products production takes place in northeastern Ontario, according to the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines (Ontario Mineral and Exploration Statistics 2003, MNDM 2004 publication).
The northern regions of the province, the prime producers of both mineral and mining products, supplies and services, contribute significantly to Ontario’s ranking as the number one nickel and gold producer and number two copper producer in Canada. Globally, Ontario is ranked 4th in the nickel and 9th in the gold production markets (Ontario Mineral and Exploration Statistics 2003).
The Ontario mining sector spends an average of more than $900 million on goods and services helping other companies in other industries sustain their profitability and employment. Of this, about $380 million is spent within an 80-kilometre radius of operating mines.
Northern Ontario, with its diverse and favourable geology including immense areas of high mineral potential, has a highly developed mining service and support sector. Those highly competitive businesses are already meeting the demands of today’s international export-oriented climate. Many of the world’s foremost authorities on geology and minerals are based within the region along with a strong network of expert government staff and a highly skilled and knowledgeable workforce.
Currently, Ontario supports four centres of excellence: CITO, Material and Manufacturing Ontario, CRESTech, and Photonics Research Ontario. These centres serve the communication and information technology, material and manufacturing, photonics and research and development sectors. And, although mining contributes 12.6% of Canada’s total export earnings, there is no centre of excellence for mining.
Rising to meet Ontario’s goal of becoming North America’s top performing jurisdiction for research and development, northern Ontario has laid the foundation for a world-class geoscience centre that would partner Ontario’s publicly funded institutions with private companies, further enhance the province’s industries and add considerably to the skilled workforce required for an innovative and dynamic economy.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
The Ontario Chamber of Commerce urges the Government of Ontario to:
1. Make a firm public commitment to making Ontario the world’s leading jurisdiction in technology and knowledge production related to the discovery, production and use of metals by creating a single provincial cluster for mining research and education located in the main mining region of the province, by concentrating provincial resources, including education and innovation funding.
2. Commit to fully exploiting the potential of Ontario’s mineral resources by undertaking an energetic program to expand the mining supply and services sector and the downstream value-added enterprises in Ontario’s mineral industry through immediate and aggressive lobbying of the federal government to ensure that mining is included in the federal commercialization agenda.
3. Create a provincial centre for excellence in mining research and education, located in the main mining region of the province, by concentrating provincial resources, including education and innovation funding.