Canada - Industry

Although the automotive industry is the dominant industrial force in Canada, the nation's industrial base is highly diversified. In addition to the manufacture of cars and car parts, major Canadian industries include electronics, processed and unprocessed minerals, food products, wood and paper products, chemicals, and petroleum and natural gas. Manufacturing accounts for about 18 percent of total industrial output. The most significant growth areas in industry are electronics, which grew by 15 percent in 2000, communications with 7.5 percent growth, furniture and fixtures with 7.4 percent growth, and crude oil and natural gas, which grew by 4.5 percent. Meanwhile transportation equipment declined by 5 percent while textiles were off by 3 percent.