Robots weld door components onto the Dodge Caravan and Chrysler Town & Country at the Chrysler assembly plant in Windsor, Ont.Jerry S. Mendoza/The Associated Press
Statistics Canada has updated its annual figures for the Canadian manufacturing sector, and the data paint just the kind of bleak picture you would expect: Despite a post-recession recovery, this is still a much smaller sector than it used to be. And the declines are much more glaring in jobs than in manufacturing revenues – perhaps evidence that post-recession, manufacturers are finding ways to produce more with fewer staff. (A silver lining on the productivity front, perhaps?)
The numbers also show the changing geography of Canada's manufacturing sector: Away from its long-standing central Canadian core. That's similar to the theme that has emerged in capital investments in the country, as Jack Mintz wrote in Economy Lab earlier today.)
Here is a snapshot of some key numbers in manufacturing:
$606-billion: Total Canadian manufacturing revenues in 2011 (the latest year available)
-6 per cent: Revenue decline since 2006
+7 per cent: Revenue increase in 2011 from 2010
1,510,000: Total number of manufacturing employees in 2011
-314,000 (17 per cent): Decline in manufacturing jobs since 2004
-16 per cent: Decline in Ontario's manufacturing revenues since 2004
-202,000 (24 per cent): Decline in Ontario's manufacturing jobs since 2004
-0.6 per cent: Decline in Quebec's manufacturing revenues since 2004
-86,000 (17 per cent): Decline in Quebec's manufacturing jobs since 2004
+32 per cent: Increase in Alberta's manufacturing revenue since 2004
+10,000 (8 per cent): Increase in Alberta's manufacturing jobs since 2004
+31 per cent: Increase in Atlantic Canada's manufacturing revenue since 2004
-11,000 (11 per cent): Decline in Atlantic Canada's manufacturing jobs since 2004