Important Facts

Facts about the automotive industry in Canada:

Economic Contribution

Auto manufacturing contributes over $16 billion to Canadian GDP.
Manufacturing sales of motor vehicles and parts were $55.1 billion in 2024, accounting for 6% of total sales ($847.2 billion).

Trade

Vehicles are the second largest Canadian export by value at $46.5 billion in 2024 of which 92% was exported to the U.S.
Auto is Ontario’s top export at 14.8% of all exports (2024).
In 2024, the North American trade bloc produced 16,107,477 vehicles. The trade bloc represents approximately 17.4% of global production.
Given the highly integrated nature of the auto industry, parts and components may cross Canadian-U.S.-Mexican borders as many as 8 times before being installed in a final assembly1.
The Detroit-Windsor crossing represents the highest number of loaded truck container crossings annually. In 2024, there were over 2.2 million truck crossings on the Ambassador Bridge – a significant percentage of these would be auto manufacturing related.

Employment

Auto manufacturing accounts for 105,600 direct jobs in Canada. The majority of these jobs are located in Ontario. The auto industry is responsible for over 603,500 direct and indirect jobs across Canada.
For every one auto assembly job, approximately ten other jobs are created in upstream and downstream activities2.

Production

1.294 million vehicles were produced in Canada in 2024.
Canada is the 11th leading vehicle producer in the world.
Canada contributes approximately 8% of all vehicles produced in North America.
Canada is dependent on exporting outside of its own borders, with domestic consumption of just 9.4% of the vehicles it manufactures within its borders.

Canadian Vehicle Fleet

_{1. Wilson, C.E., 2011}
_{2. Unifor 2020, CAR Study, 2015}
_{3. NRCan FCR Tool, 2025 MY Vehicles}

Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers' Association