Cluster Atlas of Canada
Report Highlights
This report identifies where the major industrial clusters exist within Canada and provides indicators of their relative performance. The purpose is to provide a comprehensive overview of the economic landscape of the country and map areas of strengths and weakness in order to inform decisions concerning allocation of public resources. A well-established methodology for identifying and mapping clusters is derived from the work of Spencer et al (2010). The main data sources are the 2011 National Household Survey and a 2011 universal business establishment database acquired from Dun & Bradstreet.
Key insights:
-
230 cases of clusters identified in Canada
-
Ontario leads with 86, followed by British Columbia (43), Québec (39), and Alberta (30)
-
There is a general lack of clusters in Atlantic Canada
-
Oil & gas and mining have been the best performing sets of clusters between 2001 and 2011 in terms of employment growth and incomes
-
Service clusters such as business services, finance, ICT services, and creative & cultural industries tend to be located in the largest urban areas and are experiencing high levels of growth
-
More traditional manufacturing clusters such as auto manufacturing, steel, plastics & rubber have generally been struggling over the past decade
-
The previous two points suggest that there is a growing prosperity gap between smaller/mid-sized urban regions and the largest urban regions
-
Knowledge intensive manufacturing clusters such as ICT and life sciences (including pharma) have shown somewhat mixed performance
Download the report here:
Local IDEAs 
Pingback: Cluster Research | Local IDEAs
Pingback: Where to draw the line on inequality? | Local IDEAs
Pingback: Education and inequality between Canadian cities | Local IDEAs
Pingback: Migration and increasing inequality | Local IDEAs