Nicknamed “The Heartland Province” and located in Central Canada, the province of Ontario shipped Cdn$302.3 billion worth of exported products around the globe in 2023.

That dollar amount represents an 19.4% boost from $253.3 billion four years earlier in 2019.

Year over year, the overall value of Ontarian exported goods grew by 10.6% compared to $273.4 billion for 2022.

Ontario ranks as Canada’s most lucrative exporter by province or territory ahead of other leading provinces Alberta, Quebec and British Columbia.

The value of Ontario’s exports equals 39.4% of Canada’s overall exported products for 2023, up from 35.2% in 2022. That upward trend is partly due to softening revenues from exported petroleum products from western Canadian provinces led by Alberta.

Based on statistics from the website Statista which we converted to American currency, Ontario’s exported products represent 35.2% of the province’s total economic output or Gross Domestic Product ($852.7 billion for 2023).

Given Ontario’s population of 14.304 million people, its total Cdn$302.3 billion in 2023 exports translates to $21,100 for every resident in the Central Canadian province. That dollar metric eclipses the average $19,300 per capita for the prior year.

Ontario’s reported unemployment rate was 6.8% at then end of April 2024, up from 5.1% one year earlier per YCharts.

Ontario’s Top 10 Exports

The following export products represent the highest dollar value for Ontario’s global shipments during 2023. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from Ontario.

Figures are shown at the more granular six-digit Harmonized Tariff System code level, for more precise product identification.

1. Mid-sized automobiles (piston engine): Cdn$23.3 billion (7.7% of Ontario’s total exports)
2. Gold (unwrought): $21.5 billion (7.1%)
3. Large automobiles (piston engine): $12.6 billion (4.2%)
4. Motor vehicle body parts, accessories: $6.7 billion (2.2%)
5. Miscellaneous medications: $5.8 billion (1.9%)
6. Small automobiles (piston engine): $5.4 billion (1.8%)
7. Automobiles (both piston engine/electric motor): $5.2 billion (1.7%)
8. Small gas-powered trucks: $4.9 billion (1.6%)
9. Breads, pastry, cakes, biscuits, wafers, similar goods: $4.1 billion (1.4%)
10. Large spark-ignition engines: $3.7 billion (1.2%)
11. Miscellaneous motor vehicle parts: $3.1 billion (1%)
12. Motorized armoured fighting vehicles, tanks: $2.21 billion (0.7%)
13. Coins $2.17 billion (0.7%)
14. Precious metal items $2.1 billion (0.7%)
15. Motor vehicle transmissions, related parts: $1.9 billion (0.6%)

Ontario’s top 15 exports accounted for 34.7% of the overall value of the province’s global shipments.

Automobiles powered by both piston engine plus electric motor was the fastest grower among Ontario’s top 15 export products, up by 178.1% from 2022 to 2023.

In second place for improving export sales were small gas-powered trucks which rose 105.4%.

Ontario’s shipments of motorized armoured fighting vehicles and tanks posted the third-fastest gain in value up by 98.2%.

Other major increases belonged to Ontarian exports of mid-sized automobiles with piston engines only (up 52.1%) then large spark-ignition engines (up 32.5%).

The severest double-digit declines among Ontario’s top 15 export products were for exports of miscellaneous medications (down -19% from 2022) and coins (down -14.9%).

More Key Facts about Ontario’s International Trade

Ontario incurred a -Cdn$155.9 billion deficit exporting and importing products during 2023. That dollar amount reflects an -8.4% reduction from -$170.2 billion in red ink for 2022.

Another way of saying surplus or deficit is positive or negative net exports. In a nutshell, the term “net exports” quantifies the amount by which foreign spending on a province’s goods or services exceeds or lags that same province’s spending on foreign goods or services.

All told, Ontario bought Cdn$458.2 billion worth of products from around the globe in 2023.

Below are Ontario’s top 10 import products highlighting the province’s highest spending on foreign-origin goods in 2023.

1. Small gas-powered trucks: Cdn$15.2 billion (3.3% of Ontario’s total imports)
2. Mid-sized automobiles (piston engine): $14.8 billion (3.2%)
3. Gold (unwrought): $12.2 billion (2.7%)
4. Large automobiles (piston engine): $9.6 billion (2.1%)
5. Smartphones: $8.9 billion (1.9%)
6. Miscellaneous medications: $8.3 billion (1.8%)
7. Large spark-ignition engines: $6.1 billion (1.3%)
8. Motor vehicle body parts, accessories: $5.9 billion (1.3%)
9. Small portable computing devices: $5.6 billion (1.2%)
10. Modems, similar reception/transmission devices: $5.1 billion (1.1%)

Notably, Ontario has negative net exports in the international trade of goods including small gas-powered trucks, smartphones and miscellaneous medications packaged for retail sale. In turn, these cashflows indicate Ontario’s competitive disadvantages under those product categories.

Ontario’s Major Trade Partners

The following list shows the highly concentrated top 10 customers that purchase 94.3% worth of the total value of products exported from the province of Ontario during 2023. That percentage exceeds the 93.9% one year earlier.

1. United States: Cdn$252 billion (83.4% of Ontario’s total exports)
2. United Kingdom: $9.6 billion (3.2%)
3. Mexico: $4 billion (1.3%)
4. Hong Kong: $3.95 billion (1.3%)
5. China: $3.51 billion (1.2%)
6. Germany: $2.9 billion (0.9%)
7. Norway: $2.7 billion (0.9%)
8. Japan: $2.5 billion (0.8%)
9. Switzerland: $2.1 billion (0.7%)
10. Saudi Arabia: $1.8 billion (0.6%)

Ontario’s top trade partners in North America (United States and Mexico) buy 84.7% of the overall value of exported goods from The Heartland Province.

Another 5.7% of Ontarian export sales were bought by major importers In Europe (United Kingdom, Germany, Norway and Switzerland).

Ontarian Export Companies

Below are some of Canada’s largest businesses that are involved in international trade either directly or indirectly. Their corporate headquarters are in the province of Ontario.

• Advanz Pharma (pharmaceuticals)
• Barrick Gold (mining)
• Brookfield Asset Management (finance)
• Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (finance)
• First Quantum Minerals (mining)
• Magna International (automotive parts)
• Rogers Communications (telecommunications)
• Scotiabank (finance)
• Shopify (e-commerce)
• Toronto-Dominion Bank (finance)

Shown within brackets for each company is a summary of the international trade-related products or services which each business manages.
 
Ontario’s capital is Toronto, a municipality nicknamed “the Six”. That moniker refers to the original cities of original cities of Toronto, North York, Scarborough, York, Etobicoke, and the former borough of East York.

See also Canada’s Top 10 Exports, Canada’s Top 10 Imports and Quebec’s Top Exports

Research Sources:
Canada Population, Ontario Population. Accessed on May 27, 2024

FlagPictures.org, C.A. Provinces. Accessed on May 27, 2024

Government of Canada, Trade Data Online, Total exports, Distribution by province. Accessed on May 27, 2024

International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on May 27, 2024

International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on May 27, 2024

Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on May 27, 2024

Ontario Demographic Quarterly, Highlights of Second Quarter. Accessed on May 27, 2024

Statista, GDP of Ontario in Canada. Accessed on May 27, 2024

Wikipedia, List of largest public companies in Canada by profit. Accessed on May 27, 2024

Wikipedia, List of provincial and territorial nicknames in Canada. Accessed on May 27, 2024

Wikipedia, List of largest companies in Canada. Accessed on May 27, 2024

Wikipedia, Category:Manufacturing companies of Canada. Accessed on May 27, 2024

Wikipedia, Ontario. Accessed on May 27, 2024

YCharts, Canada Labour Force Survey Report. Accessed on May 27, 2024