Statistics Canada
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The value of Canada’s natural resources

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Canada’s natural resource wealth, the dollar value of selected natural resource reserves, was $1.3 trillion in 2007. It had increased 10% per year, on average, during the preceding decade.

Minerals and timber contribute greatly to Canada’s total wealth. Metal prices rose quickly in 2003, and prices for nickel, copper, zinc, iron ore and other metals and metal ores set new records.

Prices of nonmetallic minerals notably potash, uranium and diamonds also rose steadily. Metals and minerals accounted for 66% of Canada’s exports of industrial goods.

Canada exported $40 billion worth of metal alloys, which are ores refined to a finished or semi-finished state, and $11 billion of ores, which require smelting and refining. Exports of precious metals, particularly diamonds, rose from 2002 to 2004, as did gold prices from 2004 to 2007.

Forestry exports, however, have lost share compared with other exports in recent decades. Forestry products accounted for 17.8% of exports in 1978, 10.8% in 1998 and 6.5% in 2007. The value of exports of forestry products peaked at $42.8 billion in 2000, then fell steadily to $30.9 billion in 2007. Lower prices, the rising value of the Canadian dollar compared with the U.S. dollar, and declining demand for lumber, pulp, and paper pushed down the value of forestry products.

Paper products have shown the most persistent weakness among forestry exports. The demand for paper products has fallen steadily since 2001; newsprint demand from the United States has dropped 47% since early 2001.

Natural resource extraction and processing can be controversial. Harvesting of forestry products impacts wildlife habitat, air and water quality, aesthetics and recreational access.