Mining suppliers in the Canadian province of Ontario provided 2.5 times as many direct jobs in 2011 as did mining itself, a fresh report reveals.
Examining what’s been called a “hidden sector” not tracked by Statistics Canada, the study — conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP for the Canadian Association of Mining Equipment and Services for Export — shows the sector created 40,960 direct and 27,471 indirect jobs in 2011, paying $4.6 billion in salaries.
Suppliers of equipment and services contributed $3.9 billion to provincial GDP for that year, or $6.2 billion when indirect impacts were counted.
A similar study released in 2012 found the mining sector accounted for 16,000 direct jobs, compared with 40,960 direct jobs provided by suppliers.
The PwC report follows other recent studies extolling mining’s economic virtues. Among them was a report listing some of the benefits to Greater Vancouver from British Columbia’s resources sector and an OMA study examining how a single new gold mine could benefit Ontario.
