Book 2, Tab A6 - Overview of the Marine Economy

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• In 2023, the marine economy in Canada
• The marine economy is comprised of 6 major industrial sectors
• Canada’s marine economy accounts for 1.8% of national GDP, and is relatively more important in some provinces
• Canada’s marine economy accounts for 2.2% of Canada’s total employment, with a significant contribution in BC
• Marine tourism ($11.9 million) and Offshore oil and gas ($8.6 million) are the top industries by GDP
• Marine tourism is by far the largest employer in the marine economy: 158,102 jobs or 35% of the total
• Canada’s marine economy GDP leveled off in 2023, while employment continued to edge up
• Marine Tourism was the fastest growing marine sector between 2022-2023 in terms of GDP (+$1.23 billion)
• Primary production and processing : NS is by far the largest province in terms of GDP and Jobs.
• Commercial fishing is by far the largest component of the fish and seafood sector, producing $4.4 billion in GDP and 30,000 jobs
• Aquaculture GDP dropped by over 13% in BC, NB and NS between 2022 and 2023, but was 23% higher in NL
• Seafood processing captures over half of all primary sector employment in QC and NB
• Marine Transportation: BC generates more than half of GDP and jobs
• Sept-Iles replaces Montreal as QC’s largest port by tonnage handled in 2023
• Canada’s largest marine sector is sensitive to volatile energy prices
• Public spending is a key driver of marine economy value added and jobs
• Annex 1: Total economic impacts are the sum of multiple rounds of supply chain effects

In 2023, the marine economy in Canada:

• Generated $51 billion in GDP
• Supported 446 thousand Jobs
• Accounted for nearly 2% of the total Canadian Economy

The marine economy is comprised of 6 major industrial sectors

• Primary Food Production
  • Commercial Fishing
  • Aquaculture
  • Seafood Processing
• Manufacturing and Construction
  • Port and Harbors
  • Ship and Boat Building
• Offshore Oil and Gas Extraction
• Coastal Tourism
• Marine Transportation
  • Marine Transportation
  • Support Services
• Public Sector
  • Regulatory oversight
  • Research spending
  • Public institution and non-profit sector research activities

Canada’s marine economy accounts for 1.8% of national GDP, and is relatively more important in some provinces

Marine Economy GDP by Province and Effect Type, 2023

Provincial Marine GDP as Share of Total Provincial GDP, 2023

• BC: 4%
• NB: 4%
• NL: 27%
• NS: 16%
• PEI: 8%
• QC: 1%
• Territories: 3%

• British Columbia’s (BC) marine economy is dominated by the tourism industry, which is rather labor intensive and generates higher induced and indirect economic impacts.
• Newfoundland and Labrador’s (NL) marine economy is largely reliant on the offshore oil and gas sector, which is capital intensive with lower employment per unit of output.
• Because of the size of the offshore oil and gas sector, and the province’s relatively small overall GDP, the marine economy accounts for 27% of NL’s economy.
• The Nova Scotia (NS) economy also has a large contribution from marine activities, particularly from public sector spending, tourism and commercial fishing.

Canada’s marine economy accounts for 2.2% of Canada’s total employment, with a significant contribution in BC

Marine Economy Employment, by Province and Effect Type, 2023

Marine Economy Employment as Share of Provincial Employment, 2023

• BC: 6%
• NB: 6%
• NL: 15%
• NS: 17%
• PEI: 10%
• QC: 1%
• Territories: 5%

• BC’s marine economy contributed the most jobs of all marine sector employment in 2023 (197 thousand of the national total of 445 thousand jobs). The marine sector in BC is largely comprised of labor-intensive industries such as tourism (which accounted for 100 thousand jobs of the total 197 thousand marine sector jobs in BC in 2023).
• NS has the second highest employment level in the marine economy at over 100 thousand jobs or 17% of provincial employment.
• The size and provincial share of NL’s marine employment are both smaller than the share of GDP, mainly due to the low labor intensity of the offshore oil and gas sector.

Marine tourism ($11.9 million) and Offshore oil and gas ($8.6 million) are the top industries by GDP

Marine Economy GDP by Industry and Effect Type, 2023

• Offshore oil and gas has the third largest non-public total GDP output, but the largest in terms of its direct GDP component.
• The fish and seafood sector (commercial fishing, aquaculture and seafood processing) contributes a sizable share of marine GDP: $8 billion or 16% of the marine economy.
• The public sector is an important player in its role of steward and regulator of marine resources: $9 billion or 18% of the marine economy, as well as funder of research and science activities in both public sector institutions and private sector organizations.

Marine tourism is by far the largest employer in the marine economy: 158,102 jobs or 35% of the total

Marine Economy Employment by Industry and Effect Type, 2023

• The oil and gas sector has relatively small employment figures despite its large GDP contribution, owing to the sector’s relatively low labor to capital ratio: 15,834 jobs or 4% of the total.
• The marine transportation sector and related support services has high employment when compared with its GDP contribution (9 jobs per $million GDP).
• Together commercial fish harvesting, aquaculture and seafood processing generate significant employment across all coastal regions, accounting for 66,730 jobs or 15% of the total.

Canada’s marine economy GDP leveled off in 2023, while employment continued to edge up

• The marine economy stabilized (-0.02% YoY growth rate) in 2023 after two years of high growth due to post-pandemic recovery.
• However, the price effects for offshore and gas account for most of the dampening effects; the marine economy excluding oil and gas increased by 7.7% from 2022.

Marine Economy Jobs and share of Canadian Total 2012 – 2023

• Employment has been on a general upward trend, posting a strong recovery after the dip observed in the first year of the pandemic (2020): annual rate of 4.8%, from 266,270 in 2012 to 445,692 in 2023.
• Job growth diverges from stagnant GDP between 2023 and 2022, mainly stemming from short term price effects on GDP as well as the relatively smaller employment levels in offshore oil and gas.

Marine Tourism was the fastest growing marine sector between 2022-2023 in terms of GDP (+$1.23 billion)

Estimated Domestic and Foreign Expenditure on Coastal Tourism, by Province ($ Billions), 2023*

• In Canada, domestic tourists spend about $2.50 on coastal tourism for every $1 spent by foreign tourists. Coastal Tourism in British Columbia has the largest proportion of foreign expenditure outside of the territories.
• Increases in non-domestic tourism have driven the recent growth in BC tourism. On the other hand, Newfoundland and Labrador has the highest spending on domestic coastal tourism relative to foreign tourism dollars coming into the province.

Traveller Entries to Canada via BC**

• In BC, and growth from 2022 to 2023 was due to more travelers overall, including a large increase in US visitors to the province.
• However, on a proportional basis, tourists from Asia doubled between 2022 and 2023.

* Source: Statistics Canada National Travel Survey and International Travel Survey. Expenditures are filtered by coastal census subdivision and marine related activity

** Source: BC Monthly Tourism Indicators

*** Ratios calculated using the table may not match exactly due to use of rounded figures in the underlying data

Primary production and processing : NS is by far the largest province in terms of GDP and Jobs

Seafood harvesting and processing, combined GDP by Province and Effect Type, 2023

• The Atlantic provinces capture over 70% of all fish harvesting and seafood processing GDP, most of which is concentrated in NS and NL.
• The fish and seafood sector has experienced a higher rate of growth, from 2012 to 2023, than the Marine Economy as a whole (annual growth rate: fish and seafood GDP increased by 5.2% vs. the marine economy which grew by 4.4%).

Seafood harvesting and processing, combined Jobs by Province and Effect Type, 2023

• Fish and seafood provides a large percentage of marine related employment for PEI (43%), NB (37%), NL (24%) and NS (21%).
• Fish and seafood jobs in the Atlantic region have grown at the same rate as jobs in the Marine Economy as a whole (annual growth rate: 4.8%).

Commercial fishing is by far the largest component of the fish and seafood sector, producing $4.4 billion in GDP and 30,000 jobs

Commercial Fishing Sector GDP 2023

Commercial Fishing Jobs 2023

• Lobster and Crab harvesting captures 71% of all commercial fishing landed value in Canada.
• Nearly half of all lobster landed value is from NS, which is principally exported to the United States (US) as a live product.
• On the other hand, half of all landed value for crab is in NL, also mainly exported to the US.

* Source: Department of Fisheries and Oceans; 2022 is the latest year that includes all administrative data on landed catch for all fishery species and areas.

Aquaculture GDP dropped by over 13% in BC, NB and NS between 2022 and 2023, but was 23% higher in NL

Aquaculture GDP by province, 2022 - 2023

• Over 70% of aquaculture production is located in BC, and is mostly from finfish species.
• BC farmed salmon makes up 88% of provincial aquaculture value, and just over half of all aquaculture value in Canada.
• As of 2022, BC ranks as the 5th largest producer of farmed Atlantic salmon in the world.
• Despite its smaller scale, PEI produces the largest value from farmed shellfish, mainly from muscles and oysters.

* Source: Department of Fisheries and Oceans; 2022 is the latest year that includes all administrative data on landed catch for all fishery species and areas.

Seafood processing captures over half of all primary sector employment in QC and NB

Provincial Distribution of Employment in Seafood Processing and Primary Production, 2023

• Seafood processing is more evenly distributed amongst the provinces than primary production from aquaculture and fishing.
• Seafood processing plants are typically based in small coastal communities, which are reliant on the plants for employment.
• Processing is important to support primary production resources in aquaculture and commercial fishing.
• Seafood processing includes aquaculture, and accounts for more jobs per value of output than other marine related industries.

Marine Transportation: BC generates more than half of GDP and jobs

Marine Transportation and related services, GDP by Province and Effect Type 2023

• The port of Vancouver in BC and those in Sept Iles, Montreal and the port of Quebec together drive the concentration of marine transportation GDP and jobs in these two provinces.
• The marine transportation and support services sector has experienced higher rate of growth than the total Marine Economy (annual growth rate: 5.5% vs marine economy 4.4%).

Marine Transportation and related services, Jobs by Province and Effect Type 2023

• Due to the size of the port of Vancouver, BC generates over half of marine transportation related jobs (56.4%), followed by QC with 25.6%.
• The annual growth rate of jobs linked to the sector is 5.5%, higher than rate for the overall Marine Economy (4.8%).

Sept-Iles replaces Montreal as QC’s largest port by tonnage handled in 2023

Total Canadian Marine Trade by Value of top 6 Commodities*

• Trade value has decreased in top commodities save for produce and transportation equipment.
• Mineral Products are both the most valuable import and export.

Total Canadian Marine Trade Tonnage Handled at Top 6 Ports*

• Vancouver-Fraser handled 43% of all Canadian Cargo tonnage in 2023.
• Quebec contains the 2nd, 3rd and 5th largest ports in the country.

Canada’s largest marine sector is sensitive to volatile energy prices

Offshore Oil and Gas GDP and Crude Oil Raw Material Price Index 2012-2023

• Offshore oil and gas is entirely concentrated in the province of NL (output off the shores of NS started to dwindle in 2018 and has since halted).
• Offshore extraction accounts for 5% of Canada’s oil and gas industry.
• Extraction comes from five main fields:
  • Hibernia
  • Terra Nova
  • White Rose
  • Hebron
  • North Amethyst
• Production in the four oldest wells has been falling since its peak in 2007, with some increase in 2019-2020 with production starting in the new Hebron field.

* Source: Statistics Canada Raw Material Price Index – Conventional Crude Oil

Public spending is a key driver of marine economy value added and jobs

Public Sectors by Share of Provincial Marine Public GDP, 2023

• Value added from public sector spending and other activities experienced the second largest increase from 2022 to 2023 of all marine related sectors.
• Regulatory oversight and science activities for Fisheries and Oceans Canada contribute a sizable share of marine related value added in all provinces, as the largest directly marine related federal department.
• NS captures by far the largest portion of marine public spending, due in part to the location of the Department of National Defense in Halifax, where the largest military base and home port of the Atlantic fleet is situated. BC also captures a sizable share of value added from National Defense spending due to the CFB Esquimalt base for the Pacific fleet.

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans and the Department of National Defense account for a significant share of public sector involvement in the marine economy due to their regulatory mandates.

Annex 1: Total economic impacts are the sum of multiple rounds of supply chain effects

Direct

Impacts that marine economy expenditures generate on front-line businesses or industry actors

Induced

Impacts associated with re-spending of income or profits earned in the industries that serve the marine economy, either directly or indirectly

Indirect

Impacts resulting from the expansion of demand in the marine economy industries toward other sectors of the economy

• Direct and indirect to induced: Wage spending
• Direct to indirect: Input purchases