Warm Up

In the last lesson, you learned about trade between countries. In this activity, you will learn about the impact of this trade on Canada's employment and economy.

In the previous lesson, you saw how trade makes various products available to Canadians and how Canadian products are sold to other nations. The benefits of trade go well beyond this. Have you ever considered how international trade affects employment within Canada? Let's first take a look at exporting goods from Canada.

Much of the oil and natural gas produced in Alberta is exported to the United States. With a population of close to 325 million, the United States is a huge market. This creates jobs in Alberta. Oil and gas companies need many workers to produce oil and natural gas.

Because oil and gas companies know that they can sell their product to such a large market, they are willing to invest in drilling for new sources. Obviously, this means employment for those working on the drilling equipment, but before that, many employees explored the region of potential well sites.

In addition, each of these companies had to buy vehicles for the exploration teams and trucks to carry the equipment to set up the wells. Much of this equipment is made right here in Alberta, providing even more jobs. After the well is operational, it needs to be maintained. Some of Alberta's oil is sent to refineries in this province, which means more jobs for workers in the refineries!

In the companies' offices are other employees who manage the operations. This includes a wide range of positions, including receptionists, administrative assistants, accountants, engineers, and many managers, including the CEO of the company. As you can see, there are many jobs that are created, which continue to pump money into the Canadian economy.

---

Now that you've seen the huge impact exporting Canadian goods has on our economy, let's take a look at Canadian imports. Does a product that we import also have an impact on Canada's employment situation? To examine this, consider the tropical fruit you buy at your local supermarket.

         

A company that imports fruit needs to employ people to run its business. Just like an oil company, this business needs office workers, administrative assistants, accountants, etc. to operate successfully. In addition to drivers, the trucking company that transports these products needs its own set of employees to run its business. After the product reaches the major distribution centre, it often must be stored in a cold storage facility until it is ripened and then transported to several supermarkets. This cold storage facility has its own employees.

You can easily see the employees at the supermarket who are the last to handle the fruit before the consumer takes it home to enjoy. Along the way, Canada's Food Inspection Agency sends employees to check on the product, and Canada Customs agents check the trucks as they cross the border into Canada.

These are simplified examples of the far-reaching impact of trade on Canada's employment situation, but they demonstrate how Canada depends on trade with other countries to create employment and to have a healthy economy. Trade has become a very big business in Canada.

Self-check!

Digging Deeper!