Thank you, Madam Chair and committee members.
I’m pleased to contribute to the committee’s study on Canadian businesses in supply chain and global markets from the perspective of my department, Prairies Economic Development Canada, also known as PrairiesCan.
As one of Canada’s seven regional development agencies, PrairiesCan’s mandate is to grow and diversify the economy of the Prairies.
We support businesses, innovation and community economic development in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, a region that is responsible for about a quarter of Canada’s economy.
We take pride in being place-based, which means being right there on the ground working hand in hand with businesses and stakeholders.
With 11 service locations strategically positioned throughout the region, we ensure that our support is tailored to the specific needs of the communities we serve.
We advance our mandate through our ongoing programs, such as regional economic growth through innovation, or REGI, a program that aims to create well-paying jobs, support business growth and develop regional ecosystems for entrepreneurship and innovation. For instance, through REGI’s business scale-up and productivity stream, we support high growth SMEs as they scale up their operations; produce innovative goods, services or technologies; and look to export.
One example of a business that benefited from our investment is Elmer’s Manufacturing, an agricultural equipment manufacturer based in rural Manitoba.
With our support, they expanded and innovated their manufacturing processes, which resulted in a 150% increase in revenue, 200 jobs created and significant growth in exports. Their products are sold in many countries around the world such as the U.S., Australia, the Czech Republic and South Africa.
In addition, we recognize the growing significance of hydrogen production in Alberta. That's why PrairiesCan supported Edmonton Global, an organization focused on making the Edmonton region the choice location for global investments in strengthening the regional hydrogen supply chain and labour market.
In fact, our latest annual departmental results report for 2022-23 shows that our funding programs helped to contribute to the creation of close to 15,000 jobs, more than $440 million in export sales growth and over $1.2 billion in revenue growth for the companies we supported. Growth in export sales is an important consideration in selecting the projects that the department supports.
Now here's a bit about the Prairies region. Much of our region’s economy is export oriented.
The Prairies are the world’s largest potash producer, second-largest uranium producer and fourth-largest crude oil producer.
We also have the fifth-largest helium deposits and are home to half of Canada’s farms, covering over 80% of Canada’s farmland, an area equivalent in size to the land mass of Spain.
The Prairies exports oil, natural gas, renewable hydro power, cereals, grains and pulses, services, medicines, technology and more. While our export of western Canadian goods extends primarily to the United States, with 80% of our exports valued at about $200 billion, and to China at 5.2% and close to $12.7 billion, our international exports were valued at $246 billion in 2023. That is more than a third of Canada’s overall international exports of goods by value.
Over the past decade, the total value of annual merchandise of exports from the Prairies has increased by 65%, from $149 billion to $246 billion in nominal dollar terms.
The bulk of Prairie exports leave the country through oil and gas pipelines and by rail and trucks destined to ports in B.C. and to consumers in the U.S.
In closing, let us recognize the potential of the Prairies as an economic powerhouse on the global stage. With our abundance of natural resources, innovative industries and resilient communities, the Prairies stand ready to supply the world with energy, agricultural commodities, clean technology and more.
Thank you.