Canada's Space Sector Industry Snapshot
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© His Majesty the King in Right of Canada, as represented by the Minister of Industry, .
ISSN: 2818-5226
Summary
In , Canada's space industry:
- Had over 200 firms active across Canada generating $5.0B in revenues.
- Contributed $3.8B to Canada's GDP – increasing 15% since .
- Included 14,622 direct jobs in the space sector – of which 72% were STEM and 41% were engineers and scientists.
- Had $2.2B worth of exports, with the North America and Europe as primary destinations.
- Continues to advance technology with strong increases in BERD investment – up 156% since .
- Outperformed the broader Canadian manufacturing sector in terms of R&D manufacturing intensity by 17 times – demonstrating the innovative nature of the sector.
- Made breakthroughs through inventions and patents, rising significantly since by 70% and 71%, respectively.
Space Economy Ecosystem
Over 200 organizations from across Canada are involved in the CSA's Annual Space Sector Survey.
| Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) |
Universities & Research Centres |
Large companies |
Government | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Percentage | 66% | 20% | 9% | 5% |
| Ontario | Quebec | Prairies | British Columbia & North |
Atlantic | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Percentage | 39% | 27% | 14% | 11% | 9% |
Note: The North (Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut) has been integrated with B.C. due to the small number of respondents.
Contribution to the Economy
The space sector contributed $3.8B to Canada's GDPFootnote 1 – increasing 15.4% since .
| GDP | 0% | 0% | -5% | 4% | 9% | 15% |
|---|
Revenues
Space sector revenues totalled $5.0B
This includes:
69% Satellite Communications 
7% Earth Observation 
2% Space Science 
14% Navigation 
7% Space Exploration 
1% Other
| Millions | $5,489 | $4,898 | $4,896 | $5,049 | $5,091 | $5,028 |
|---|
Value-Chain Activities
Of the total revenues:
- 29% were upstream activities
- 71% were downstream activities
| Ground Systems Manufacturing (Upstream) | 3% |
|---|---|
| Research, Engineering, and Consulting (Upstream) | 8% |
| Space Systems Manufacturing (Upstream) | 18% |
| Satellite Operations (Downstream) | 14% |
| Products and Applications (Downstream) | 15% |
| Services (Downstream) | 41% |
| 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Upstream | 0% | -22% | -11% | 15% | 36% | 59% |
| Downstream | 0% | -9% | -11% | -13% | -16% | -22% |
Domestic vs. Export Revenues
Of the total revenues:
- 57% ($2.9B) were from domestic sources.
- 43% ($2.2B) came from exports.
- North America and Europe remain the most common export destinations.
| North America | 68% |
|---|---|
| Europe | 18% |
| Asia | 6% |
| Central America, South America, and Caribbean | 5% |
| Middle East | 1% |
| Oceania and Antarctica | 1% |
| Africa | 0.4% |
| Other | 1% |
*Note: Continental regions are consistent with categorizations at Statistics Canada.
Workforce
The space sector supported over 28,171 jobs in Canada.
- Direct: 14,622 jobs most of which are STEMFootnote 2 (72%) and HQPFootnote 3 (74%).
- Indirect and Induced: 13,549 jobs.
The space sector gender breakdown includes 30% women; 70% men; 0.3% non-binary people.
| Engineers & Scientists | 41% |
|---|---|
| Administration | 17% |
| Students | 14% |
| Technicians | 10% |
| Other (incl. Health Professionals) | 8% |
| Management | 7% |
| Marketing and Sales | 3% |
Research and Development
Business expenditures for research and developmentFootnote 4 reached $962M – up 156% since .
The R&D intensity for space manufacturing was 17 times higher than the average for manufacturing in Canada.
| Millions | $376 | $479 | $547 | $593 | $650 | $962 |
|---|
*Measures spending towards R&D activities in a company. The source of funds could include their own private investment or external funding sources.
Innovation
There were 413 inventions – up 70% since .
There were 113 patents – up 71% since .
| 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inventions | 243 | 215 | 226 | 256 | 340 | 413 |
| Patents | 66 | 64 | 76 | 63 | 135 | 113 |
Background
- This snapshot, developed by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) in collaboration with Space Canada, provides information about the space economy in Canada.
- This snapshot is a summary of the CSA's State of the Canadian Space Sector Report. The data is sourced from a voluntary survey and supplemented with internal information. The data collected remains confidential and protected by the CSA. It has not been shared with Space Canada in any way. This information is only made public in aggregate form.
- The report covers data for the year of .
- The numbers presented may not add up precisely to the totals provided because of rounding.
- The CSA's full report is available at: https://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/publications/corporate.asp