Study by the Board of Trade of Metropoiltan Montreal: “Natural Resources: Leverage for the City’s Growth”

On April 18, 2012, the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal released the results of its study entitled “Natural Resources: Leverage for the City’s Growth.” The study aims to measure the weight and importance of the natural resources sector in the metropolitan Montreal area economy and to consider, in particular, the direct and indirect jobs that depend on it, the foreign investments that can be ascribed to it, and the expenditures that are made in the area by the firms involved in it. The study also considers the question of the Plan Nord and of the potential spinoffs of the Plan’s investments for metropolitan area companies. This part of the study identifies, in particular, business opportunities associated with the planned public infrastructure projects and with the anticipated private investments. Finally, the reader will find a series of lines of thinking addressed to public decision-makers and other actors concerned with the success of the natural resources sector, in order to maximize the positive spinoffs of this ambitious plan for Québec and its metropolitan area.

The highlights of the study include: 

  • In terms of total investment and operating expenditures, natural resources will generate estimated spin-offs of $51.8 billion in the Montréal metropolitan area over the next 25 years.
  • The exploitation of natural resources and the implementation of the Plan Nord will create or maintain around 14,335 jobs in the city per year, for 25 years.
  • To maximize the economic spin-offs of the exploitation of natural resources in the metropolitan area, the actors concerned will have to implement concrete strategies with four major goals in mind:
  • Put in place a business environment conducive to the development of natural resources;
  • Propose and strengthen training programs to allow development of a sufficient number of specialized human resources;
  • Maximize linkage in the value chain, both upstream and downstream;
  • Highlight the distinctive qualities of our resources and enhance their value in the marketplace.
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