Plastics growth outpaces other sectors of Canadian manufacturing

The Canadian plastics industry is growing twice as fast as all other manufacturing sectors, the Canadian Plastics Industry Association (CPIA) revealed at its executive briefing and annual general meeting on May 4, 2006.
Canadian plastics processors shipped $38.9 billion worth of goods in 2005, the CPIA said, making up 8.10 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) compared to 2004 when plastics accounted for 8.03 per cent of the GDP. In 2005, the plastics industry in Canada was valued at $51.5 billion, with the remaining $12.6 billion attributed to moldmakers, raw materials suppliers and machinery vendors.
Additionally, over a 100,000 people were employed by the Canadian industry in 2005, according to the CPIA, in 2,405 plants across the country.
Fifty-seven per cent of facilities were headquartered in Ontario, followed by 26 per cent in Quebec, six per cent in British Columbia, five per cent in Alberta, three per cent in the Atlantic provinces, two per cent in Manitoba and one per cent in Saskatchewan.