Agenda

1
Agenda October 2/07

• Time Activity
• 330 Lecture Ontario - Part I
• 400 VideoSnowshoes Solitudes
• 430 Break
• 445 VideoSnowshoes Solitudes
• 515 Lecture Ontario - Part II

2
Ontario

• Ontarios superlatives
• Canadas most populous Province
• Canadas second-largest Province (over 1,000,000
  sq. km)
• Canadas leading economic region
• Courchene (economist) - may become the new
  heartland of North America
• Four resources - agriculture forests minerals
  and hydroelectricity- developed the economy
• Now sustained by manufacturing and service
  industries

3
Ontario

• Two distinct regions
• 800 000 vs 11 000 000
• Two distinct economies
• Is the heart of Canadas economy
• The most politically influential Province
• The Province of Opportunity (S. Ont.)
• Industrial and population heartland vs an old
  resource hinterland with a stalled economic and
  population growth

4

See Figure 5.1 Ontario, 2001 - p. 230
5
Ontarios - Centralist Perspective

• Political and economic dominance
• Seen by other areas as favoured by Ottawa
• Ontario - shouldered the burden of
  Confederation - major contributor to the
  equalization payments

6
See Figure 5.2 Central Canada - p. 231
7
Ontario Physical Geography

• Larger than most countries (1 million sq. km.)
• Three physiographic regions (Hudson Bay Lowlands,
  Canadian Shield Great Lakes-St. Lawrence
  Lowlands)
• Three climatic regions (Arctic, Sub-Arctic,
  Great Lakes-St. Lawrence)
• Central to Canada
• Proximity to U.S. industrial heartland

8
Southern Ontario Physical Geography

• Includes the most southerly land in Canada (Point
  Pelee is south of 42 degrees north latitude)
• Has a moderate continental climate, influenced by
  its proximity to the Great Lakes (short, cold
  winters long, hot and humid summers)
• Annual precipitation of around 1000mm
• Sometimes a lack of summer precipitation in the
  southwestern peninsula
• Winter snowfalls can be significant in the lee of
  the Great Lakes

9
Physical Geography

• Has the longest frost-free period in eastern
  Canada
• Underlain by slightly tilted sedimentary rocks,
  with good to excellent podzolic soils
• Little relief topography
• Mixed forest vegetation
• Coastal areas are subject to pronounced
  fluctuations in levels of the Great Lakes

10
Northern Ontario

• Ontarios north makes up 87 of the Provinces
  territory, but is home to only about 8 of its
  population
• Two physiographic regions
• Higher latitudes longer, colder winters
• 46 - 57 degrees North
• The region serves as a resource frontier
  (hinterland), with mining, forestry, and tourism
  dominating economic activities
• Public sector employment is also significant
• The region is highly dependent upon external
  markets and transportation infrastructure
• large urban centres are widely scattered, with
  smaller single-industry towns between
• The regional economy is stagnant population is
  aging and declining

11
Environmental Challenges

• Two major concerns
• air pollution
• Golden Horseshoe - smog - health hazard
• OMA - 1billion per year in medical bills
• water pollution
• Walkerton, May 2000
• Great Lakes - asset and problem - shared with
  U.S.
• Industrial and urban pollution
• Initial efforts to clean-up lakes began to show
  results by 1980s - but funding was cut

12
Environmental Challenges

• Great Lakes - current threats
• Growing levels of phosphorous - creation of a
  dead zones - only toxic organisms survive
• Exotic species - sea lampreys, Asian carp, and
  zebra muscles - overtaking natural species -
  changing ecosystem

13
Environmental Challenges

• I would suggest that there is a third major
  evironmental issue facing Ontario!
• Waste Disposal
• Toronto garbage
• Gets all the press
• However, it is an issue all along the Great Lakes
  St. Lawrence Lowlands
• Continues to grow with growth (increased
  populations increased housing increased waste)

14
Ontario Facts

• 41 of Canadas GNP
• Annual output 300 billion
• Average Personal Income
• 35,185  (Male 42,719 Female 26,894)
• (Canada A- 31,757 (M - 38,347  F - 24,390)
• 38 of Canadian population
• Largest population of six regions

15
Trade

• Well positioned - domestically and
  internationally
• Raw materials and manufactured goods
• Free trade enhanced market access and share in US
  and North American economy
• 1980 Ont. Trade with the rest of Canada and with
  the U.S.A. was about equal
• 1998 trade with U.S.A. 2.5 Xs the rest of
  Canada

16
Trade

• 2001 - Automobiles and Auto parts - 93 billion
• 90 from assembly and parts plants in Ontario
• Represents a demand for steel, rubber, plastics,
  aluminium and glass products
• A slow down in the auto industry also has impact
  on all other components
• Canada-U.S. Auto-Pact designed to integrate
  Canadas auto industry into the N.A. market
• Ontario accounts for 16 of auto production in
  North America

17
New World Economic Order

• Two main events in the 1980s
• Liberalization of World Trade
• General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade - (GATT) -
  most countries agreed to reduce barriers to
  international trade (import quotas and health
  regulations)
• 2. Free Trade Agreement (FTA)
• Between Canada and U.S.
• Replaced in 1994 by N.A. Free Trade Agreement
  (NAFTA) - included Mexico

18
New World Economic Order

• Canadian manufacturers expanded operations in an
  effort to reduce the per unit cost and thus be
  more competitive
• Faced competition from Mexico - lower labour
  costs and lower environmental restrictions

19
New World Economic Order

• All is not roses!
• A reminder - increased trade with U.S. makes us
  more dependent on U.S. - three consequences
• Rise and fall of U.A. economy effects our economy
  more directly
• No unlimited access - U.S. can still limit
  Canadian products (e.g. lumber, beef grain)
• Our long-term economic fortunes closely tied to
  U.S. more than ever before

20
Industrial Structure - Geographic Pattern

• Economies have an industrial structure based on
  its economic activities
• Divided into three categories
• Primary, secondary, and tertiary

21
See table 415
22
Industrial Structure - Geographic Pattern

• The Tertiary / Service sector now represents 75
  of industrial activity by value and employment
• Tertiary sector divided
• Tertiary (service functions - selling of gods and
  professional services)
• Quaternary (decision-making and innovation
  functions)

23
See Table 5.1
24
Industrial Structure - Geographic Pattern

• Distinctive Geographic Pattern
• Primary activities mainly in N. Ont. (forestry
  and mining with initial processing done here to
  reduce shipping costs to the market)
• Secondary Tertiary concentrated in S. Ont.
• Global competition has effected manufacturing in
  Ontario as it tries to compete with the lower
  labour costs - this has resulted in company
  closures in S. Ont.
• Wallacebury - Sydenham Glass Toronto - Lennox
  Cambridge - Nike Hamilton - Camco Hamilton -
  Stelco

25
Southern Ontario

• Agriculture
• Southern Ontario - main primary industry takes
  advantage of the regions two main environmental
  attributes its fertile soils and its longer
  growing season 7 Billion a year.
• Most crops produced are for consumption within
  the region but there is easy access to the nearby
  U.S. states
• The dominant crops (hay-pasture, corn, and feed
  grains) are intended to meet demands of the
  livestock industry (dairy, poultry and meat)
• The rural landscape is dominated by livestock
  barns, silos, farmhouses, and rectangular farm
  fields of mixed crops

26
Southern Ontario

• Specialized crops - soybeans, tobacco, sugar
  beets, fruits, grapes and vegetables
• Border delays after 9/11 have an impact of the
  quality of the goods getting to the U.S. markets
• Southern Ontarios rural areas are settled at a
  significantly higher density than those of the
  Interior Plains
• Average farm size 92ha (compared to 519ha in
  Saskatchewan)
• Three highly-specialized zones all south of 43
  degrees North Latitude and thus the most
  southerly areas in Canada

27
Agriculture

• 1. Essex-Kent Vegetable Area
• Formerly know as the corn belt
• Currently Canadas biggest producer of soy beans
• Corn, wheat, and soybeans dominate production
• Vegetables and fruits are important high value
  alternative crops
• Home to about ¼ of all vegetable processing
• Leamington has the highest concentration of
  greenhouses in Canada
• Tobacco was formerly of importance vineyards are
  of growing importance
• Windsor, Chatham and Leamington are the main
  service centres in the region

28
Agriculture

• 2. Norfolk Tobacco Belt
• Has sandy (deltaic and other lacustrine) soils
• Has poor soil fertility relative to other areas
• Farm failure and abandonment were common in the
  19th Century
• In the 1920s, demand for tobacco stimulated
  agricultural production
• Farm prosperity has declined with the demand for
  tobacco
• Five crops currently dominate corn, soy beans,
  wheat, hay, and oats
• No major service centre exists in the region
  higher-order goods and services are obtained in
  London and Brantford

29
Agriculture

• 3. Niagara Fruit Belt
• Fruit and vineyard production are concentrated on
  the Lake Ontario plain, north of the Niagara
  Escarpment
• Grapes, cherries, peaches, plums, and pears
  dominate production in the north
• The upland south of the escarpment is dominated
  by a hay-pasture-dairy economy
• Soils vary lacustrine soils dominate in the
  north, glacially deposited soils in the south
• Lake Ontario moderates the climate of the area,
  particularly on the plain
• Agricultural land in the region is under
  considerable population pressure

30
Manufacturing

• Southern Ontarios dominance of manufacturing in
  Canada is the result of a number of favourable
  conditions and policy developments
• An advantaged location proximity to Great Lakes
  shipping, a resource hinterland, and the large
  American market
• Well-developed land transportation routes
  resulting (in part) from the wheat economy
• The Reciprocity Treaty, the National Policy, and
  the Auto Pact
• American ownership of industry (within the
  context of trade restrictions)

31
Key Topic

• The Automobile Industry

32
The Auto Pact

• 1965 - Successful production-sharing agreement
  between Can. U.S.
• Ended in 2001 (See Vignette 5gt5 - p. 251)
• Served three objectives
• Secured guarantees to keep Can. Plants open
• Increased Can. Plants - economies of scales -
  specialization on type of car to N. American
  Market.
• Reduced Can. Car prices

33
Growth of the Auto Industry

• Drives Ontario economy
• 17 jobs in auto industry
• High wages - semi-skilled workers - puts money
  into broader economy
• ¼ of Can. Merchandise exports
• 97 billion in 2002

34
Growth of the Auto Industry

• Two problems
• Abundance of auto production and drop in sales
  leads to closure of less productive plants
• Increase in Canadian Dollar increases the price
  of exports and makes us less competitive
• Two operations
• Auto and Truck assembly
• Production of Auto Parts

35
Growth of the Auto Industry

• Just-in-time Principle
• Reduces inventories, warehouse space and labour
  costs
• Delicate - easily disrupted and then effects
  assembly plants
• Outsourcing - subcontracting the manufacturing of
  auto parts
• Crests and Troughs in the industry

36
Growth of the Auto Industry

• Located in S. Ontario
• Transportation linkages
• Most cars trucks sold in U.S. (85 in 2002)

37
Seee Figure 5.3 Automobile-assembly centres in
Ontario
38
Growth of the Auto Industry

• 2002 - 65 of N. American production by Big
  Three - General Motors, Daimler-Chrysler Ford
  (1992 - 90)
• Competition - Japanese Korean plants now in
  North America (including S. Ontario)
• Ontario attractive to Japanese
• Highly motivate work force
• Canadian Dollar
• Medical insurance packages

39
Table 5.2 - p. 255

• Automobile-Assembly Plants in Southern Ontario,
  2002

40
The Future

• Liberalization of trade globalization of auto
  industry - highly competitive N. American market
• Signs of slow down - spring of 2000
• Big Three - decreasing production
• Honda and Toyota - increasing

41
The Future

• Canadian dollar continuing to rise
• Closures locally - Ford Chrysler
• Planned expansion or improvements being put on
  hold.
• Uncertain future

42
Northern Ontario

• Population located along the two transportation
  routes
• CP railroad and Trans-Canada Highway
• CN railroad and northern highway

43
See Figure 5.2 Central Canada
44
Northern Ontario - old resource hinterland

• Sluggish economy
• Declining population
• High unemployment
• Demographics
• Aging population
• Net out-migration (youth)
• Few immigrants

45
Northern Ontario - old resource hinterland

• Three major economic activities
• Mining
• Forestry
• Tourism
• Linked to external markets
• Less than 10 of Ontarios exports
• Few major hydro-electric developments - more
  gentle slope of landscape

46
Mining Industry

• There is a direct spatial relationship between
  mining and the presence of certain kinds of rock
  in the Canadian Shield
• Shield rocks are not equally mineralized
• Much of the shield is composed mainly of granite
  and gneiss neither of which typically have
  highly concentrated minerals
• Most economically viable mineral deposits are
  found in areas of greenstone
• The distribution of mining is continually
  changing, in order to take advantage of new
  and/or cheaper sources of ore
• The core of mining activity began along the
  Ontario-Quebec boundary
• After the 1950s, mining began to spread east and
  west, and eventually to portions of the interior
  shield

47
A Boom and Bust Industry

• The boom and bust nature of the mining industry
  is associated with two main factors
• Commodity prices
• Prices are subject to changes in the economy
• If the economy in general is doing well, demand
  for metals increases, and prices rise as well
• Economic slowdowns bring the prices of metals
  down, sometimes below the cost of production
• Competition from cheaper sources can impact upon
  the economic viability of particular mines
• War can impact upon the price of metals
• The discovery of mineral deposits can initiate
  boom and bust cycles (e.g. gold rushes)

48
Mining Industry

• Annual production of 5 billion
• Minerals are non-renewable
• Mining communities have short lifespan
• Examples - Cobalt, Elliot Lake

49
Forest Industry

• 15 billion in products annually
• 60 exported to U.S.
• Soft-wood lumber - U.S. 27 duty
• Two forest regions
• Barrens region - Hudson Bay Lowlands
• Boreal region - Canadian Shield

50
See Figure 5.4 US lumber lobby wins again
51
Forest Industry

• 50 communities depend on forest industries
• Mills produce pulp and paper, lumber, fence
  posts, and plywood
• 25 of Canadian production
• Ontario - leading exporter of newsprint and
  pulpwood to U.S. (most U.S. owned)
• Transportation - roads transports to access and
  deliver wood railways and transports for
  shipping secondary products to markets

52

• Advanced technology has changed the industry
• Logging now year round
• Piggy-back trucks haul logs
• Trees harvested before reaching maturity
• Mechanical tree harvesters
• Lower labour tendency to clear-cut

53
Forest Industry

• Facing challenges
• Balance between harvesting and regeneration
• Government issues forest leases and insists on
  companies replanting through management
  agreements - time will tell how successful this
  is
• Changing nature of Boreal Forest
• coniferous to broad leaf (spruce, pine and fir
  replaced by poplar and birch - loss of original
  species
• Harvesting replacing forest fires as change agent
• Aging of Pulp Paper Plants
• Old plants old technology toxic waste
• Need to update - fear new, larger production will
  close plants in single industry towns

54
Urban Geography

• Most highly urbanized province
• 85 of population urbanized
• 10/25 of Canadas largest cities in Ont.
• Growth areas Oshawa Toronto Ottawa Kitchener

55
See Table 5.3
56
Golden Horseshoe

• Around the western end of L. Ontario (Niagara
  Falls to Oshawa)
• Outstanding economic performance
• Most densely populated area of Can.
• ¼ of Can. Pop. - 12 towns and cities
• Hamilton - steel Oshawa - 1 in auto
  manufacturing

57
See Figure 5.5 Major urban centres in Central
Canada
58
Toronto

• Largest city in Can. - 5 million (2002)
• Financial capital of Can. - home of main offices
  of banks and investment firms (national
  international) and the TSE
• Growth immigrants - ½ million (1996-2001) -
  visible minorities (2001) 37 of pop.
• Geographic expansion required to accommodate
  growth (lower land costs) led to creation of
  GTA - super city (1998)

59
Toronto

• Cultural and entertainment centre
• Strong tourism industry (impact of SARS)
• Problems - traffic commuters - demands on
  transportation - considering toll routes (like
  407) or multi-person vehicle lanes

60
See Table 5.4
61
Ottawa Valley

• Ottawa-Gatineau (Hull) 1 pop. - 4th largest
  metropolitan area in Can.
• National Capital Area - both provinces - both
  official languages used
• Growth - in-immigration (from within Canada) as
  well as foreign countries
• 18 pop. Immigrant 14 of pop. Visible
  minorities

62
See Table 5.5
63
Ottawa Valley

• Federal government business community (and
  resulting goods services demands) employment
• Greater Ottawa - Ontarios 3rd largest urban
  cluster
• As Capital - focus of national international
  affairs
• Industrial leader in high tech - Silicon
  Valley North
• Fluctuations - recent rise fall of this
  industry has result in foreign take-overs

64
Southwestern Ontario

• Cambridge to Windsor - 1 million pop.
• London
• unofficial capital of area
• Provides administrative, commercial and cultural
  services to area
• Home of insurance companies
• Manufacturing - armoured personnel carriers and
  diesel locomotives by GM

65
Southwestern Ontario

• Auto auto parts industry throughout area
• Technology Triangle - Cambridge, Kitchener
  Waterloo - innovative technologies developed

66
Cities of Northern Ontario

• Sharp contrast to Southern Ontario
• Resource base losing economic strength
• Resources exploited
• Increased technology fewer workers
• Timmins - gold belt Sudbury nickel belt (with
  smelting of nickel copper)
• Both now regional service centres yet have
  declining populations

67
See Table 5.6
68
Cities of Northern Ontario

• Sault Ste. Marie
• steel town border city
• located on Seaway
• Algoma Steel - struggling to survive - distance
  from markets (2001 - 100th anniversary filed
  for protection)

69
Cities of Northern Ontario

• Thunder Bay
• Key in east-west transportation
• Bulk products (grain, iron coal) shipped in and
  out
• Diminished with declining raw materials (iron ore
  - Atikokan)
• Grain major product handled

70
Ontarios Future

• Strong in financial manufacturing
• Resource based industry challenged by diminishing
  resources hinterland decline
• Industrial core remains secure
• S. Ont. needs to maintain or increase share in N.
  American market (esp. auto industry)
• Again - being tied so strongly to U.S. market
  creates uncertainty in a number of areas.