In the 21st century, natural resources are fundamental to the daily lives of humans around the world. Natural resources contribute and are a major impact to the economic growth and employment opportunities in Canada for generations. Canada’s natural resources play a major role in supplying demands, both domestically and internationally. In the recent global financial crisis during the year of 2010, natural resources generated 11.5 percent or $142.5 billion of Canada’s gross domestic product and employed approximately 763 000 people. Based on these findings, resource-based economy is apt to dominate Canada through natural resources such as natural fossil fuels, forestry and mineral-based mining.
In Canada, there are many forms of fossil fuels, ranging from crude oil to natural gas and coal to petroleum. Canada provided 27.6 billion cubic metres of crude oil, making Canada the third most abundant country to have this natural resource. The production of crude oil refined a total of 167.4 million cubic metres and created petroleum products such as gasoline and diesel. A total of 112.5 million cubic metres of crude oil exports, it generated $52 billion. 21.5 percent of which was accounted for U.S. crude imports and sustained a 13 percent share of the overall U.S market. This is due to the fact that Canada has an open economy and has become one of the most important and reliable energy provider to the world.
Canada is literally covered in trees and forestry, as it covers more than half of the country’s total land surface, totalling up to 400 million hectares. These forests provide job opportunities across Canada through harvesting, milling, processing and manufacturing jobs. The three major subsectors of the forest industry, solid wood, pulp and paper, and forestry logging, contributes up to $23.72 billion towards Canada’s gross domestic products. In addition to this, six hundred thousand people have been employed within these jobs and this significantly increases the government’s economy.
Last but not least, mining is an important economic sector in Canada and contributes a hefty amount of money towards our GDP. It supports economic growth in both urban and rural populations including Aboriginal Canadian communities as mining is its important employer. Three hundred and eight thousand people were employed in the mining industry and supplied $36 billion to our gross domestic product during the year of 2010. The average weekly pay of a Canadian mining worker exceeds the wages of workers in forestry, manufacturing, finance and construction. With all these earnings, tax revenue in 2011 was around $698 in