Nicknamed “The Heartland Province” and located in Central Canada, the province of Ontario shipped US$210.2 billion worth of products around the globe in 2022.

That dollar amount represents an 11.6% boost from $188.1 billion four years earlier in 2018.

Year over year, the overall value of Ontarian exported goods grew by 8.8% compared to $193.2 billion for 2021.

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 35.2% of Canada’s overall exported products for 2022, down from 38.4% in 2021. That downward trend is partly due to growing sales of 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 35.3% of the province’s total economic output or Gross Domestic Product ($595.6 billion for 2021—the latest available data at time of article publication). Currency used for this calculation started from chained 2012 Canadian dollars.

Given Ontario’s population of 14.996 million people, its total $210.2 billion in 2022 exports translates to $14,000 for every resident in the Central Canadian province. That dollar metric eclipses the average $13,700 per capita for 2021.

Ontario’s reported unemployment rate was 5.1% in February 2023, down from 5.7% 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 2022. 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. Gold (unwrought): US$13.1 billion (7.8% of Ontario’s exports)
2. Mid-sized automobiles (piston engine): $11.74 billion (6.9%)
3. Large automobiles (piston engine): $10 billion (5.9%)
4. Miscellaneous medications: $5.5 billion (3.2%)
5. Motor vehicle body parts, accessories: $4.7 billion (2.7%)
6. Small automobiles (piston engine): $3.4 billion (2%)
7. Breads, pastry, cakes, biscuits, wafers, similar goods: $2.7 billion (1.6%)
8. Miscellaneous motor vehicle parts: $2.6 billion (1.5%)
9. Large spark-ignition engines: $2.1 billion (1.3%)
10. Coins: $1.96 billion (1.2%)
11. Nickel: $1.83 billion (1.1%)
12. Small gas-powered trucks: $1.82 billion (1.1%)
13. Items made with precious metals: $1.76 billion (1%)
14. Miscellaneous petroleum oils: $1.5 billion (0.9%)
15. Automobiles (both piston engine/electric motor): $1.45 billion (0.9%)

Ontario’s top 15 exports accounted for 39% of the overall value of the province’s global shipments.

Nickel was the fastest grower among Ontario’s top 15 export products, up by 51.9% from 2021 to 2022.

In second place for improving export sales were bakery goods including breads, pastry, cakes, biscuits and wafers which rose 27.2%. Ontario’s shipments of miscellaneous medications packaged for retail sale posted the third-fastest gain in value up by 23.7% ahead of petroleum oils (up 20.5%) then motor vehicle parts (up 14.3%).

The leading decliner among Ontario’s top 15 export products was exported items made with precious metals, dropping -14.1% from 2021.

More Key Facts about Ontario’s International Trade

Ontario incurred a -$127.3 billion deficit exporting and importing products during 2022. That dollar amount reflects a 20.1% expansion from -$106 billion in red ink for 2021.

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 $337.5 billion worth of products from around the globe in 2022.

Below are Ontario’s top 10 import products highlighting the province’s highest spending on foreign-origin goods in 2022.

1. Small gas-powered trucks: US$10.3 billion (3.1% of Ontario’s imports)
2. Mid-sized automobiles (piston engine): $9.5 billion (2.8%)
3. Gold (unwrought): $7.9 billion (2.3%)
4. Large automobiles (piston engine): $7.13 billion (2.1%)
5. Miscellaneous medications: $6.65 billion (2%)
6. Small portable computing devices: $4.77 billion (1.4%)
7. Motor vehicle body parts, accessories: $3.83 billion (1.1%)
8. Immunological products in measured doses: $3.82 billion (1.1%)
9. Modems, similar reception/transmission devices: $3.72 billion (1.1%)
10. Electric vehicles: $3.4 billion (1%)

Notably, Ontario has negative net exports in the international trade of goods including small gas-powered trucks 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 top 10 customers that purchase 93.9% worth of the total value of products exported from the province of Ontario during 2022. That percentage is smaller than 94.3% one year earlier.

1. United States: US$169.6 billion (80.7% of Ontario’s exports)
2. United Kingdom: $10.7 billion (5.1%)
3. Germany: $2.93 billion (1.4%)
4. Norway: $2.77 billion (1.3%)
5. Mexico: $2.65 billion (1.3%)
6. China: $2.41 billion (1.1%)
7. Hong Kong: $1.85 billion (0.9%)
8. Japan: $1.77 billion (0.8%)
9. Netherlands: $1.7 million (0.8%)
10. Switzerland: $1.1 billion (0.5%)

Ontario’s top trade partners in North America (United States and Mexico) consume 81.9% of the overall value of exported goods from The Heartland Province.

Another 9.1% of Ontarian export sales were bought by major importers In Europe (United Kingdom, Germany, Norway, Netherlands 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 Top Canadian Trade Balances

Research Sources:
Canada Population, Ontario Population. Accessed on March 16, 2023

FlagPictures.org, C.A. Provinces. Accessed on March 16, 2023

Government of Canada, Trade Data Online, Total exports, Distribution by province. Accessed on March 16, 2023

International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on March 16, 2023

International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on March 16, 2023

Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on March 16, 2023

Ontario Demographic Quarterly, Highlights of Second Quarter. Accessed on March 16, 2023

Statista, GDP of Ontario in Canada. Accessed on March 16, 2023

Wikipedia, List of largest public companies in Canada by profit. Accessed on March 16, 2023

Wikipedia, List of provincial and territorial nicknames in Canada. Accessed on March 16, 2023

Wikipedia, List of largest companies in Canada. Accessed on March 16, 2023

Wikipedia, Category:Manufacturing companies of Canada. Accessed on March 16, 2023

Wikipedia, Ontario. Accessed on March 16, 2023

YCharts, Canada Labour Force Survey Report. Accessed on March 16, 2023