Economy and transport

Canadian economy is traditionally based on natural resources and agriculture. Canada is the world’s second largest exporter of wheat that is mainly planted on the prairies in the interior of the country. Nevertheless, Canada is not only an agricultural country; some regions are known as industrial centres – e.g. Ontario. Forestry For is also important for the Canadian economy because forests cover 44% of the land area.


In Canada there can be found almost all ores and energy raw materials. In 1896 in the Yukon Territory gold was discovered and this accident started a golden rush all over the world. People from all countries travelled to Yukon to wash out gold.

Canada’s largest source is in minerals. It is first in the exploitation of nickel, zinc and uranium; second in cadmium; third in lead, gas and platinum; fourth in copper and magnesium . It is also an important producer of gold, silver and aluminium. The exploitation of iron ore, oil and coal is less important.

Transport has a key role in Canada, because distances are great. The east-west Canadian Pacific railway built in 1885 and the Canadian National railway contributed a lot to the development of the prairie agriculture. One of Canada’s major highways is the Trans-Canada route; Vancouver is one of its major ports. Canada has more than 93.000 km of railroads and almost 1 million km of roads. Air traffic is very important for long distances in Canada - the largest international airports are Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, Gander and Vancouver. The largest ports are Vancouver, Thunder Bay, Port-Cartier, and Sept-Îles.

Thanks to agriculture, forestry, fishing and the mineral industry, Canada belongs among the richest countries in the world (G7). Canada also has one of largest GNP (Gross National Product) in the world - over $ 20.000 per each inhabitant. Its market economy is closely linked with that of the United States.