State of the Canadian Space Sector

Once again, I am pleased to report that the results of the 2004 Annual Survey indicate there has been considerable growth in the space sector. Total revenues for 2004 were C$2.44B. This represents a 22% increase over levels reported in 2003. While we can attribute this growth to increases in both domestic and export revenues, the majority of this growth, 92%, is attributed to the increase in export revenues. Accordingly, the ratio of revenues streaming from the domestic and export markets has changed to 51%/49% from the 60%/40% observed for the past two years. The results reconfirm the importance of the export market for the growth of the Canadian Space Sector and the importance of strengthening our collective efforts in this regard.

Satellite Communications activities generated the majority of revenues (75%) for the space sector. Given the significant contribution of the revenues generated by the Satellite Communications sector in comparison to overall space revenues, we once again examined the data further to better discern the specific characteristics of this revenue stream.

Of the four Space Categories monitored, Space Segment activities has shown significant growth this year (86%), breaking its trend of declines observed over the past three years. The Annual Survey also demonstrated other growths during 2004; Ground Segment activities increased 21% and Applications and Services revenues increased 8%. However, the Space Research area of activity lost some ground with revenues declining 12% ($6M) over the course of the year. This marks the first year of decline in revenues for the space research category since 2000.

Overall, this year's results confirm that our collective efforts have produced an enduring and competitive Canadian space sector that continues to grow in a fiercely competitive international marketplace. I will continue to meet with leaders of the space industry and research and development sector to discuss where our best efforts would fuse to promote and further strengthen the Canadian space sector.

Marc Garneau
CSA President

• 2004 (PDF Document)
• 2003 (PDF Document)
• 2002 (PDF Document)
• 2001 (PDF Document)
• 2000 - Highlights 2 pages (PDF Document)
• 2000 - Full Report 13 pages (PDF Document)
• 1998-1999 - Summary 2 pages (PDF Document)
• 1998-1999 - Full Report 16 pages (PDF Document)
• 1997 (PDF Document)
• 1996 (PDF Document)