Made in Ontario – supplied
to the world with ease
The fourth industrial revolution is here, and it’s just the beginning. Industry 4.0 has already transformed production processes and blurred the lines of traditional industry sectors worldwide. Technologies like 3D printing, advanced robotics, AI, and virtual and augmented reality enable industries to stay intelligent, agile, and scalable while positively impacting the environment.
The global Industry 4.0 market is poised to grow from US $130.9 billion in 2022 to US $377.3 billion by 2029, at a CAGR of 16.3%.
North America has the densest clusters of Advanced Manufacturing startups and is home to the industry’s top players in the world, including; General Electric, Google, AIBrain, General Vision, Microsoft, Siemens, Amazon Web Services, Mitsubishi, FANUC, Cisco, HP, Yaskawa, & IBM.
The first country in the G20 to offer a tariff-free zone for industrial manufacturers
$201B
manufacturing sector contribution to GDP
$378B
annual exports in the manufacturing sector
1.7M jobs
in Advanced Manufacturing
172 robots per 10,000 employees
74% greater than the world’s average
Ontario is the epicentre of Advanced Manufacturing in Canada. It seamlessly combines traditional manufacturing methods with the latest technology. The top manufacturing sectors calling Ontario home include Aerospace, Automotive, Chemical and Biochemical and CleanTech.
Most importantly, Ontario is the base for Canada’s Advanced Manufacturing Cluster led by the non-profit NGen. Companies situated in Ontario can benefit from this because 62% of the Advanced Manufacturing cluster’s project partners are located in Ontario.
A 2021 study by Pitchbook reports that Ontario is also home to a majority (33%) of the AgriTech companies in Canada. 79 out of 261 AgriTech companies in the dataset were headquartered in Ontario, making it the largest ecosystem within Canada. The top five most prevalent activities are:
In their recent report, NGen revealed that between 2021-2022, they granted CA $81.4 million in funding for 75 Advanced Manufacturing projects. This brings NGen’s overall project funding approvals to CA $235.9 million, spread across 166 projects, and total investments reaching CA $607 million.
New manufacturing processes are the top recipient of NGen funding by type of solution, and Pharmaceuticals, Food Processing, and Advanced Materials are the top funding receipts by sector.
In Ontario, your business gains access to the highest-educated workforce of the G7. Ontario is also the second largest tech cluster in North America and hosts a concentration of world-class universities that are preparing the future workforce to excel in Advanced Manufacturing.
The most noteworthy collaboration is Ontario’s Advanced Manufacturing Consortium (AMC), a strategic partnership between McMaster University, the University of Waterloo, and Western University, to provide easy access to facilities and technical expertise required by innovative manufacturing startups.
Carleton University, University of Ottawa, Conestoga College, Wilfrid Laurier University, Durham College, Ontario Tech University, Ryerson University, Sheridan College, University of Toronto, and York University are some other renowned universities in Ontario offering post-secondary courses and degrees relevant to Advanced Manufacturing.
Canada’s trade agreements cover markets valued at over US $50 trillion with 1.7 billion consumers. Canada has free trade agreements with the largest manufacturing markets in the world: the United States (USMCA), the European Union (CETA) and Asia-Pacific (CPTPP).
Your business can access 187 million consumers within a day’s drive of the Greater Toronto Area. Ontario has 4 international and 300 regional airports, 250,000 km of roads and highways, a dozen border crossings and the 6th most internationally connected airport in the world.
largest AM
sector in Canada
largest tech cluster
in North America
local consumers
within a day’s drive
of all shipments are from Ontario’s AM industry
most internationally connected airport
Funding, Resources and Organizations
Canada’s Innovation Superclusters foster collaboration among industry leaders, SMEs, non-profit organizations, and post-secondary institutions to accelerate growth in five promising sectors:
As a startup in the Advanced Manufacturing space, you can apply for membership to the Advanced Manufacturing cluster. Members have the opportunity to propose and participate in Supercluster projects. Approx CA $750 million over five years has been earmarked for Canada’s Global Innovation Clusters.
NRC’s Advanced Manufacturing Program aids transportation equipment manufacturers (aerospace and ground transportation) by leading breakthrough AM research to lower costs and enhance efficiency.
Other resources include:
offers a unique testing environment for field robotics research.
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has CA $427 million earmarked for Advanced Manufacturing cluster projects. Visit Site
collaborates with Southwestern Ontario industries to tackle manufacturing challenges by assessing, de-risking, and deploying advanced technologies for growth. It also provides SMEs with research expertise and resources to scale operations. Visit Site
unites and fosters collaboration among UoT’s exceptional robotics research clusters. As a hub for robotics, experts from healthcare robotics, field robotics and Advanced Manufacturing are able to come together. Visit Site
