| The mining-reliant communities are spread across Canada. The largest numbers are in Quebec (78) and Saskatchewan (32), although this is partly due to the total number of communities in each of these provinces. Also, in each of these provinces, mining sites employ employees from more than one community.
Ontario has the largest communities (by population size) reliant on mining resources, as it includes the large steel-making cities of Hamilton and Sault Ste. Marie, and also Canada’s largest mining centre, Greater Sudbury. Most of the other communities of substantial size (over 10 000 population) are in Quebec: these include the aluminium-smelting cities of Chicoutimi, Jonquière and Baie-Comeau, and relatively large mining and smelting towns such as Sorel-Tracy, Rouyn-Noranda, Val d’Or and Thetford Mines. Outside of these two provinces, the only other mineral-reliant communities of over 10 000 are two mining cities, Bathurst, New Brunswick, and Thompson, Manitoba, and the aluminum-smelting city of Kitimat, British Columbia.
The pattern of reliance values indicates that there are proportionately more communities with a high reliance (65% or more reliance) in western Canada than in other parts of the country. Ontario also has some highly reliant communities in the northern part of the province, but most mining-reliant communities in the southern part of Ontario have lower reliance values, reflecting a more diversified local economy. Quebec’s mining-reliant communities tend to be located in the Canadian Shield part of the province, or in the Appalachian Orogen at the southeastern edge of the province. There are relatively few mining-reliant communities in Atlantic Canada. In many northern parts of Canada, communities are often not near mines, as people are flown into the major mines to work but have a permanent residence elsewhere.
The Data
and Mapping Notes provide more detailed information on the methodology and the 2001 Census data used to measure resource reliance. |
