Thank you, Mr. Chair, members of the committee, clerk, and fellow attendees. Thank you for the opportunity to appear today and contribute to the committee's study of this important topic.
On behalf of the Mining Association of Canada I'm pleased to communicate MAC's support for a robust free trade agreement between Canada and Mercosur. Mining is a significant engine in the Canadian economy, contributing 3.4% or $58 billion to national GDP. The sector employs nearly 600,000 people directly and indirectly. It supports one of the largest supply sectors in the world, and is a top employer of indigenous peoples.
Mining-associated activities, both domestic and international, generate and support these Canadian economic benefits. For example, metal and non-metal mining products accounted for 19%, or $88 billion, of the total overall value of Canada's exports in 2016. That's one-fifth of Canada's total value of exports.
Mining also accounted for a significant volume of Canadian direct investment abroad, exceeding $90 billion in 2016, or 9% of Canada's total. Much of the above investment that is raised on the open market is transacted in Canada, which represents found money for Canada. As the global centre for mining finance, the Toronto Stock Exchange and TSX Venture Exchange list 57% of the world's publicly traded mining companies.
Recent data indicates that roughly 1,200 of the firms listed on the TSX and TSXV are mining companies, and that together they have a combined market value of nearly near $300 billion. Historically the TSX raises more capital for mining than any other exchange on the planet, and a significant volume of this is raised for projects in Latin America, which jurisdictionally comprises the largest number of TSX-financed projects—18% or over 1,100 projects—outside of Canada.
The assets of Canadian companies operating in Brazil and Argentina combined exceeded $22.2 billion in 2015, underscoring the significance of these two countries as they account for 5% and 8% of the value of Canadian mining assets abroad respectively for that year.
Further, research across a sample of nine MAC member companies indicated that Canadian combined mining investment into Argentina and Brazil in 2016 exceeded $1.9 billion, underscoring that these investments are active and ongoing.
The positive economic impacts created when mining companies procure goods and services in their host countries and communities can be game-changers for economic and social development. While civil society and the public at large have tended to focus heavily on the level of tax paid by mining companies, procurement is the single largest payment type a mining operation will make over its lifespan. Recognition of the role that local procurement can play in helping to achieve the sustainable development goals is increasing. Organizations such as Mining Shared Value, a non-profit initiative of Engineers Without Borders Canada, are promoting awareness with the power of local procurement. For example, a single mine operated by one of MAC's members can spend hundreds of millions of dollars on procurement in a host country. This often represents several times the amount of official development assistance the Canadian government may provide to that country.
Beyond investment and assets and associated benefits, Canadian mining companies are exporting best mining practice. The most significant recent example of this is in Argentina where the Argentine chamber of mining entrepreneurs adopted MAC's toward sustainable mining initiative for use at its members' mine sites. One of six such jurisdictions to do so beyond Canada's borders, Argentina's adoption of TSM represents a significant step forward in co-operation on responsible mining standards between Canada and a very significant mining jurisdiction in Latin America.
MAC supports Prime Minister Trudeau's November 2016 initiative to foster an ongoing dialogue on deepening the Canada-Mercosur trade and investment relationship and is pleased this has progressed to studying the opportunity a free trade agreement presents for both Canada and Mercosur. We encourage the pursuit of such an agreement.
Thank you for your time and I'd be happy to take questions after my fellow presenters.