Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'd like to say how much we appreciate the opportunity to address the Standing Committee on Natural Resources. I think this study on the future of Canada's natural resources sectors is quite timely.
This is my first time presenting in front of a parliamentary committee, and I'm glad I get to present on a topic that has been so central to the chamber's advocacy for the last few years.
The overarching concern of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce can be summed up with one word—competitiveness. Representing businesses of every size from every economic sector, the Canadian chamber focuses on the policies and programs that will help Canadian businesses compete in the global economy. For that reason, improving access to markets for natural resources has been a priority for the chamber since 2013.
Through our resource champions initiative, which brings together over 100 chambers of commerce from across Canada, we've argued that Canada's unique advantage in the global economy is our dual strength as both a resource economy and a knowledge economy. Why are Canada's resource industries so essential to the national competitiveness? I will illustrate using oil and gas.
First, the process of taking hydrocarbons from the earth creates tremendous value added for the Canadian economy. Most people understand that transforming raw materials into manufactured goods, such as auto parts, adds value. When manufacturing an auto part, a firm takes a uniform commodity and transforms it into a unique process. The reverse is true for a natural resource project. Each individual project is unique in terms of the geological attributes of the resource. The value added comes from the design and construction to create a uniform product from very different resources.
According to a report by the University of Calgary, natural resources are the leading creator of value added in the Canadian economy. Oil and gas extraction creates $1.36 million in value added per job per year, which is 15 times more value added per job than the national average for all sectors.
Just as in the manufacturing sector, extensive supply chains are needed to support this process of transformation. These supply chains serve to transfer wealth from remote regions to cities, and even across provincial borders. Doug Porter, chief economist at the Bank of Montreal, states that oil and gas is tied to roughly 20% of Canada's manufacturing sector. This includes not just manufacturers, but also service firms like Maxxam Analytics, a Mississauga-based firm that offers specialized laboratory services. The firm has 500 clients in western Canada's oil and gas sector, which accounted for half of the company's revenues a couple of years ago.
Service chains are also about suppliers. There isn't a single mine, oil rig, or paper mill in Toronto, but the city is a global centre of finance and professional services for the resource industry. Last year more than half of global mining finance happened in Toronto. The TSX and the TSX Venture Exchange have more oil and gas listings than any stock exchange in the world.
One group of oil and gas suppliers that is receiving a lot of attention these days is clean tech firms. Cleantech Canada magazine recently surveyed 500 firms on where their main market is. The oil and gas sector was listed as second largest, just one percentage point behind the consumer and public market. One example from our membership is Titanium Corporation. This company extracts heavy metals like titanium and zirconium from oil sands mine tailings, preventing their release in the environment while creating a new revenue stream for the company.
Our energy resources are also an important calling card on the world stage. As we look to Asia, energy will be one of the key reasons that businesses and government leaders in these regions take our phone calls. We recently held an event in partnership with the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Vancouver. One of the key reasons business people from the world's third-largest economy and second-largest importer of fossil fuels made the trip was B.C.'s LNG industry.
Of course, it's also essential to recognize that oil and gas are fossil fuels. The chamber network has spoken out clearly on the need to act on climate change. The chamber has been calling for a price on carbon since 2011. We listed a lack of clear, substantive climate policies as one of Canada's top ten barriers to competitiveness in 2014, and again in 2016. However, as long as the world needs oil and gas to fuel our cars and power our plants, we need to support the competitiveness of Canada's industry. For our network, this means building export infrastructure, both pipelines and LNG facilities. Stopping pipelines in Canada does not speed up the development of alternatives to oil, and it doesn't slow growing oil demand in emerging economies, which is where most of the growth in energy demand will come from in the future. China and India need petroleum, but they don't much care if it comes from Canada or somewhere else. As investment in the oil sector moves away from Canada, greenhouse gas from oil production just moves with it, likely to jurisdictions with fewer environmental safeguards.
As this committee considers the future of the oil and gas sector, I would leave you with one key message, which is that getting pipelines and LNG facilities approved and built is a key concern not just for the future of the oil and gas industry, but for Canadian competitiveness as a whole.