Industry Statistics

By AIAC Source: Aerospace Industries Association of Canada Published: 2019-08-11

In June 2019, AIAC and Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada jointly released The State of the Aerospace Industry: 2019 Report, which contains updated data and analytics for the Canadian aerospace industry as of 2018.

Canada’s Aerospace Industry

All data is from 2018 unless otherwise stated.

Economic Impact

• The industry’s $31 billion in revenues has contributed over $25 billion to GDP and over 213,000 jobs in the Canadian economy[1]
  • The aerospace industry and its value chain contributed over $20.3 billion in GDP and 160,000 jobs to the Canadian economy (direct and indirect)
  • Consumer spending by associated employees contributed an additional $5.2B to GDP and supported 53,000 jobs (induced)
• Positive year-over-year growth in revenue, GDP, and jobs

Ecosystem

• The Canadian aerospace industry ecosystem is interlinked with the defence and space industries
• Close to 70% of the industry’s activity (GDP) is dedicated to manufacturing while the balance is focused on maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO)

Global Value Chain

• Over 90% of Canadian aerospace manufacturing firms are exporters[2]
• Aerospace manufacturing is 30% more export intensive than total manufacturing
• Medium-sized aerospace manufacturing firms are 3X more trade diverse[3] than those in total manufacturing
• Close to 50% of exports are supply chain related[4]

Innovation and Skills

• Aerospace is the number one R&D player[5] among all Canadian manufacturing industries
• Canadian aerospace manufacturing invested $1.4 billion in R&D, contributing close to a quarter of total manufacturing R&D in Canada[6]
• Aerospace manufacturing is 6X more R&D intensive[7] than the manufacturing average
• STEM[8] employment in aerospace manufacturing is 2X higher than in total manufacturing[9]

[1] ISED’s model estimates direct, indirect and induced employment and GDP impacts based on revised data from Statistics Canada, National Input-Output Multipliers (2015 adjusted to 2018 employment), Canada Revenue Agency, OECD and firm level observations, 2019

[2] Statistics Canada Survey of Innovation and Business Strategy (2017), 2019

[3] Trade diversity is measured as a share of non-US exports

[4] Global Trade Atlas (2018), 2019

[5] In terms of value of R&D activity

[6] Statistics Canada Table: 27-10-0333-01 (2018), 2019

[7] R&D intensity is calculated using the ratio of R&D to GDP

[8] Science, Technology, Engineering and Math

[9] Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey (LFS) custom tabulation  (2018), 2019