{"id":119154,"date":"2025-09-04T11:23:07","date_gmt":"2025-09-04T11:23:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/119154\/"},"modified":"2025-09-04T11:23:07","modified_gmt":"2025-09-04T11:23:07","slug":"auto-sectors-benefits-outweigh-canola-industrys-ontario-think-tank-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/119154\/","title":{"rendered":"Auto sector\u2019s benefits outweigh canola industry\u2019s, Ontario think tank says"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Employees work on the production line at the Martinrea auto parts manufacturing plant in Woodbridge, Ont. Statistics Canada data show the auto assembly and auto parts sectors contributed $19.2-billion to GDP in 2024.Chris Young\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

A think tank that promotes advanced manufacturing in Ontario<\/a> is pushing back against economic estimates cited by Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe<\/a> that leave the impression Canada\u2019s canola industry outweighs the auto industry in terms of economic benefits.<\/p>\n

Prime Minister Mark Carney<\/a> is facing pressure from premiers<\/a>, including Mr. Moe, to lift hefty tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles imposed to protect Canada\u2019s auto sector, because Beijing subsequently retaliated by hitting Canadian canola and other agricultural products with steep levies.<\/p>\n

The matter has inadvertently pitted the auto sector against the canola industry as Canada deliberates on how to proceed.<\/p>\n

Canola farmers feel their livelihoods are being sacrificed to save the auto industry<\/a><\/p>\n

A study commissioned by the Canola Council of Canada and published last fall says canola generates $43.7-billion of economic activity in Canada and supports 206,000 jobs. This includes both direct contributions to gross domestic product and estimated indirect benefits. <\/p>\n

But the London, Ont.-based Trillium Network for Advanced Manufacturing says these numbers overestimate the indirect economic impact of canola. <\/p>\n

Mr. Moe himself repeated these statistics in August when he argued the canola industry is far bigger than other industries including the auto sector<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis $43- to $45-billion Canadian canola industry that we have [is] employing just over 200,000 people,\u201d the Premier told media last month. <\/p>\n

\u201cTo put this into context, that is significantly larger than the steel industry, the aluminum industry and the car manufacturing industry combined,\u201d Mr. Moe said.<\/p>\n

Brendan Sweeney, managing director of the Trillium Network, says he feels this canola estimate is \u201can overreach.\u201d He notes that data from Statistics Canada<\/a> and the federal Industry department show the Canadian auto assembly and auto parts sectors contributed $19.2-billion to GDP in 2024 and directly employed 118,120 people. <\/p>\n

By comparison, Mr. Sweeney said, the same data sources show the canola industry contributed $5-billion to GDP and directly employed 21,576 people in 2024. Most canola is grown in the Prairie provinces but some canola processing takes place in central Canada. <\/p>\n

The Trillium Network, located at Western University, previously received significant funding from the Ontario government but now operates on research work for all three levels of government in the province.<\/p>\n

Australia canola\u2019s re-entry into Chinese market threatens Canada\u2019s dominance<\/a><\/p>\n

Mr. Sweeney said the canola industry study estimates have \u201cbeen used by some lobbyists and politicians to demonstrate just how much greater the canola industry\u2019s contributions to Canada\u2019s economy are than the $19-billion that the automotive industry contributes directly to Canadian GDP.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said the economic contributions of both the auto and canola sectors extend well beyond their direct contributions in terms of jobs and production. That\u2019s because the economic activity supports other jobs in the communities where they operate as well as suppliers. Mr. Sweeney said it\u2019s important not to lump in tangential or peripheral economy activity \u201cthat have little to do with the direct activities of the industry in question.\u201d He says the canola industry economic impact study does this.<\/p>\n

The Canola Council of Canada, asked for comment on Mr. Sweeney\u2019s criticisms, sent a statement from president Chris Davison who said both the canola and automotive industries are \u201cstrong, growing and vibrant industries\u201d and the canola industry impact report was published to highlight its contributions to the Canadian economy.<\/p>\n

Mr. Davison said the canola report measures direct and indirect benefits as well as induced benefits, which refer to when people who earn money from an activity spend it in their community, creating more jobs and helping local businesses grow.<\/p>\n

He said there has been a significant increase in economic benefits generated by the Canadian canola industry \u2212 driven by several factors during the period covered in the report, including \u201csignificant industry investment in expansion of domestic canola processing capacity and a rise in canola oil use in biofuels, among them.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Employees work on the production line at the Martinrea auto parts manufacturing plant…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":119155,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[45,49,48,46,714],"class_list":{"0":"post-119154","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-economy","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-economy","12":"tag-politics"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119154","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119154"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119154\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/119155"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119154"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119154"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}