An O’(de to) Canada

With Canada Day on the horizon, here at YCR we wanted to take a moment to show our appreciation for the people who work in some of the industries that help make this country great. From coast to coast there will be celebrations of Canada this weekend, and while some of us get the day off, many Canadians continue working to ensure the continued prosperity of communities across this country and the land we depend on.

Thinking about the delicious food of the holiday coming up and the good times of long weekends past, makes me think about our agriculture industry. So, what better way to kick off this weekend than looking at our agriculture industry? As of 2021, Canada was the fourth largest wheat producer in the world. Which like, pretty cool being top 5 in anything. In 2022 Canadian farmers planted an estimated 25 million acres of wheat, which combined is a land area comparable to the size of South Korea.

Now Richard the reader here is probably thinking “okay yeah our agriculture industry is pretty wicked but what else do we have?” Well let me tell you, let’s start in British Columbia, where since 2018, more than 1.1 billion trees have been planted as part of their forestry industries sustainability efforts.

Moving on from BC, we can’t forget about the Territories. For those of you who don’t know I was a history major, here’s a quick lesson the Yukon’s rich history of mining. Gold was first found in the area in 1896 and the mining industry has grown and flourished in the time since, making it one of the integral industries of the territory. Gold, copper, lead, zinc, and silver are just some of the minerals and metals that are mined in the Yukon. Maybe another time I’ll write about the Gold Rush to the Yukon in the late 19^th century but for now, we’ll keep it to an appreciation post for the miners who gather the vital materials for our future.

Now at this moment, I’m getting to a point where I’ve hardly talked about out east. Maybe you don’t know if there even are resources out east. Now I could talk about the lumberyards that supplied the British with their ships against Napoleon and how it defended this nation in 1812. Like I said though, that’s a blog for another time.

With Canada Day 2023 now one day away, I wanted to take a glance at what our Maritime provinces are doing currently. Nova Scotia accounted for 27% of Canada’s seafood exports, making it the country’s number one exporter in the fisheries industry. Nova Scotia’s exports in 2021 were valued at $2.47 billion, which is an astronomically large number. Nova Scotia isn’t a one-trick pony when it comes to resources, like the other maritime provinces Nova Scotia has it’s hands in many cookie jars such as forestry, agriculture, and is moving towards renewable energy

As much as I would love to dive into the oil and gas industry in Alberta, or even in Saskatchewan. I could also drone on about our nuclear industry in Ontario and how great hydro and agriculture are for Quebec. Not to mention the other maritime provinces’ forestry, offshore, renewables, and of course fisheries. I could even get into the other two territories of Canada with their integral mining industries. But our editor and chief wants to enjoy his long weekend as well, so I will keep things short and sweet.

Thank you to everyone who works in Canada’s resource sectors for making it a great country to live in. We appreciate your efforts every day. Thank you for supporting your own families by being away from them and working for the betterment of Canada.

Happy Canada Day Everyone.