Canada's Most Productive Advanced Manufacturing Cluster

Advanced manufacturing in Ontario represents over 50% of all Canadian shipments. Employing more than 70,000 people in Ontario, the Advanced Manufacturing sector exports nearly 90% of its products to international locations.

Advanced Manufacturing in Ontario

The largest concentration of Canada's Advanced Manufacturing sector is in Ontario's Heartland. Local industry has been rapidly expanding its capital stock and upgrading equipment to prepare for new ways of doing business.

The cost of developing technologies within this sector is generally lower in Ontario than elsewhere due to wage costs and investment tax credits. The province of Ontario offers one of the most favourable R&D initiatives in the world, reflecting generous tax incentives at both the national and provincial levels. Learn more here.

One Region, Many Machines at Work

Local manufacturers benefit from a high concentration of suppliers and customers in and around Ontario's Heartland.

Domestic customer markets for machinery are strong, including:

• basic industrial material producers
• automotive & transportation equipment
• plastics
• food processing
• construction

Highly Skilled Workers

The Heartland is home to many workers who are highly educated and experienced in advanced manufacturing. Ontario's apprenticeship training system works in consultation with industry to ensure a continued supply of machinists, tool and die makers, engineers and other skilled workers.

Within the immediate vicinity of the Heartland, several colleges and universities have developed state-of-the-art capability in tool and die, materials science, metal machining, mechanical engineering, manufacturing technology, machine control, computer-aided design, robotics and automation.

The nearby University of Western Ontario and University of Waterloo offer advanced training and research facilities in Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Advanced Manufacturing Research, and Mechatronics, Systems Design Engineering and Computer Science.