Ask the adults you know what they do for a living. You will probably hear about hospitals, stores, offices, schools, construction sites and warehouses, and far fewer farms, mines or fishing boats. Yet those jobs are connected: the nurse's scrubs started as cotton in a field, the office runs on electricity from a dam, and the software engineer may be designing a program that tracks wheat shipments. Geographers sort all this work into economic sectors to see how an economy is built and how it is changing.
| Sector | What it does | Canadian examples |
|---|---|---|
| Primary | Takes resources directly from nature | Grain farm in Saskatchewan, nickel mine in Sudbury, lobster boat in Nova Scotia, logging in northern Ontario |
| Secondary | Turns raw materials into products (manufacturing, processing, construction) | Vehicle assembly in Alliston or Cambridge, steel mill in Hamilton, aluminium smelter in Quebec, building a house |
| Tertiary | Provides services to people and businesses | Retail, health care, teaching, banking, trucking, restaurants, tourism |
| Quaternary | Creates, processes and shares knowledge and information (often counted as part of services) | Software, AI research, biotechnology labs, engineering design, data analysis, finance |
How Canada's economy has changed
A century ago a large share of Canadians worked on farms. Machines, fertilizers and better seeds let fewer farmers grow far more food, so workers moved to factories in the cities. Since the 1970s, automation and competition from other countries have reduced factory jobs, and services have grown fastest. Today about 4 out of 5 Canadian workers have service jobs (Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey), while fewer than 2 percent work in farming. This does not mean resources stopped mattering: primary industries still earn a huge share of Canada's export income and support towns across the country. They simply produce more with fewer workers.
Knowledge-based industries and human capital
Human capital is the knowledge, skills, creativity and health of a population: what its people can do. Knowledge-based industries earn money mainly from ideas, research and expertise rather than from raw materials: software and video games, artificial intelligence (AI), life sciences and biotechnology, engineering, finance and research. Their raw material is educated people, so they locate near universities and colleges, other tech companies, investors and places where skilled workers want to live. Their jobs tend to pay well, and their products, such as apps, designs and medical discoveries, can be sold worldwide without being shipped in a truck.
| Hub | Strengths | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Toronto–Waterloo corridor | Software, financial technology, AI, life sciences | University of Waterloo's co-op program and many startups; the Vector Institute for AI in Toronto; insulin was discovered at the University of Toronto in 1921–22 |
| Montréal | AI research, video games, visual effects, aerospace | Mila, a large AI research institute; major video game studios; aircraft and flight simulator makers |
| Ottawa | Telecommunications, software, government research | Kanata North technology park; Shopify was founded in Ottawa |
| Vancouver | Video games, film visual effects, clean technology | Game and animation studios; many hydrogen and battery companies |
| Edmonton and Calgary | AI, energy technology | Amii, Alberta's AI institute in Edmonton; technology for cleaner oil and gas production |
Careers in Canada's industries
| Field | Sample careers | Where geospatial technology helps |
|---|---|---|
| Marine sector | Ship's officer, port logistics coordinator, hydrographer, marine biologist, fisheries officer, aquaculture technician, Coast Guard crew | Sonar and GPS map the sea floor and safe shipping routes; satellites such as Canada's RADARSAT Constellation Mission track sea ice, ships and oil spills; GIS maps fishing zones and protected areas |
| Natural resources | Geologist, forester and forest technician, mining engineer, heavy equipment operator, millwright and electrician, environmental monitor, wind turbine technician | GIS forest inventories, LiDAR to measure tree height, satellite images of wildfires and clear-cuts, drones to survey mine sites, GPS-guided tractors |
| Tourism | Park interpreter and warden, outdoor guide and outfitter, hotel and event manager, chef, tourism marketer | GPS trail apps and digital maps for visitors, GIS to plan campsites and manage crowds, mapping wildlife sightings |
Many of these careers mix sectors and skills. A forest technician walks cut blocks with a GPS unit, then builds a GIS map in the office. A wind turbine technician is a skilled tradesperson who climbs towers and reads computer data on how each turbine is running. A fisheries officer uses satellite tracking of boats to enforce quotas. Skilled trades (electricians, millwrights, heavy equipment technicians, welders) are in high demand across resource industries and are reached through apprenticeships and college programs. If you liked GIS, GPS and remote sensing in Unit 1, these industries are full of jobs that use them.