The industrial sector providing equipment, supplies and services to the global mining industry, generates 68,000 jobs across Ontario, contributing billions to Ontario’s GDP. A new economic impact survey reveals information previously lacking about the mining supply and services (MSS) industry, which The Conference Board of Canada describe as a ‘hidden’ sector, not directly measured by Statistics Canada.

The study, executed by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP for the Canadian Association of Mining Equipment and Services for Export (CAMESE) is based on the activities of 913 companies that consider themselves mining suppliers in 2011.

Jon Baird,  Managing Director of CAMESE said: “Finally we have proof of the important economic contribution of Ontario’s mining suppliers, supporting not only the province’s mines, but servicing mining activity worldwide.”

Mining supply activity occurs throughout Ontario. While one-third of the companies’ head offices are in Northern Ontario, 21% percent are in the Greater Toronto Area and nearly half are in other parts of the province.

“The public may think of mining supply as companies that produce machinery or drilling services”, says Ryan McEachern, incoming Managing Director of CAMESE, “but they are less aware of the tremendous number of mining-specific jobs in banks, legal and accounting firms, business consultants, engineering firms and many other professions.”

In 2011, the MSS sector contributed a direct impact of approximately $3.9 billion to Ontario’s GDP. Taking into consideration indirect impacts, the total contribution was roughly $6.2 billion, or approximately 1%of Ontario’s GDP. With 41,000 direct and 27,000 indirect jobs, the MSS sector is estimated to have contributed 68,000 jobs in Ontario in 2011. These jobs are estimated to have generated nearly $4.6 billion in salaries and wages and nearly $1.5 billion in government tax revenues.

A study released in 2012 on the impact of mining on the provincial economy in 2011 entitled Mining: Dynamic and Dependable for Ontario’s Future, by the Policy and Economic Analysis Program of the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management for the Ontario Mining Association found that direct employment in mining was “more than 16,000”. Thus, with 41,000 direct jobs, the MSS sector provides 2.5 times the number of direct jobs as mining itself.

The Rotman Report found that there were 7,851 “workers employed in support activities to mining.” The 41,000 direct and 27,000 indirect jobs revealed in the present survey likely capture significant MSS activities for non-Ontario mining operations by the 78% of responding companies that report earning revenues from outside of Ontario.

The Rotman Report gives a production value of $10.7 billion, accounting for more than 1.6 percent of Ontario‘s total GDP. Correcting this for the indirect GDP contribution, mining’s direct contribution is 1.3 percent of provincial GDP. Thus, mining supply is approximately 77 % as important to Ontario’s economy as mining itself. Further, the two integrated sectors’ output within the province and including the MSS sectors’ global activities outside the province, together total about 2.3 percent of provincial GDP.