In November 2021, AIAC and Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada jointly released The State of the Aerospace Industry: 2020 Report, which contains updated data and analytics for the Canadian aerospace industry as of 2019/2020.
The 2020 report quantifies the impacts of the pandemic on aerospace jobs and the sector’s economic activity in Canada and points to a long recovery. According to the report, the overall aerospace industry’s contribution to the Canadian economy decreased by $6.2B in GDP and 27,900 jobs between 2019 and 2020.
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Canada’s Aerospace Industry
All data is from 2020 unless otherwise stated.
Economic Impact
- In 2020, the Canadian aerospace industry contributed over $22B in GDP and close to 207,000 jobs to the Canadian economy
- Between 2019 and 2020, the overall aerospace industry’s contribution to the Canadian economy decreased by $6.2B in GDP and 27,900 jobs
- MRO accounted for close to 60% of the employment loss in the Canadian aerospace industry between 2019 and 2020
Global Value Chain
- In comparison to global civil aircraft production, Canada’s aerospace manufacturing industry revenues were less impacted in 2020
- Between 2019 and 2020, global civil aircraft production revenues fell by 44% compared to 25% for the Canadian aerospace manufacturing industry
- Canada is the only country that ranked in the top 5 across civil flight simulator, engine, and aircraft sub-segments in 2020
- Over 55% of aerospace manufacturing exports were supply chain related in 2020
- The Canadian aerospace manufacturing industry exported over 75% of Canadian aerospace products to 186 countries across 6 continents in 2020
Innovation and Skills
- The Canadian aerospace industry maintained its #1 R&D ranking among all Canadian manufacturing industries in 2020
- Aerospace manufacturing R&D intensity and share of STEM employment were 3X higher than the manufacturing average
- Between 2019 and 2020, the aerospace manufacturing industry’s investment in R&D was relatively stable ($934M R&D investment in 2020)
Sources: ISED’s economic model estimates (GDP in 2012 chained dollars) based on the latest Statistics Canada National Input-Output Multipliers (2016, 2017), 2021; ISED’s economic model estimates based on latest revised data from Statistics Canada (2019, 2020), 2021. Teal Group (2020), 2021; Forecast International (2020), 2021; ISED’s economic model 2020 estimates based on the latest Statistics Canada data (2020), 2021.