CANADA: ECONOMIC
CONNECTIONS
SECTORS OF THE ECONOMY
INTRO WORK
 Answer
the following question, as an
introduction to this unit.

Imagine you’re walking along a street with your friends. You
get a craving for some fast food, so you drop in at a fast-food
outlet. You decide on a hamburger, fries, and pop. As you wait
for your order, your mind wanders and you start thinking about
what you’re about to eat. What goes into a hamburger anyway,
and where does it come from?

List as many ingredients/materials as you
can (for the food and the packaging) that
were required to produce the combo meal.
Next, try to identify the location where each
of these items came from.
Where’s That Burger From?
ECONOMIC CONNECTIONS

This mini-unit
examines how the
physical
components of
Canada are tied to
the people who live
in it – primarily
through their work.
TYPES OF INDUSTRIES
The jobs that people do can be placed into one of three
categories:
PRIMARY INDUSTRIES
SECONDARY INDUSTRIES
TERTIARY INDUSTRIES
PRIMARY INDUSTRY

Primary Industry: Industries that take raw
materials from the environment
 Usually located where resources are found.
 E.g. farming, forestry, fishing, and mining
PRIMARY INDUSTRY

primary industries make a critical
contribution to Canada’s wealth
A
small percentage of Canada’s labour force
works in primary industries
A
greater percentage of Canada’s labour
force worked in primary industries before
machinery replaced human labour for many
tasks
SECONDARY INDUSTRY

Secondary Industry: involve the processing of primary
industry products into finished goods
 The most important secondary industry is manufacturing
 Secondary industries employ far more Canadians than do
primary industries - three times as many workers
 Takes raw materials and changes them into things that we
can use.
E.g. Automobile production plant, Oil refinery, Steel mill
SECONDARY INDUSTRY
Manufacturing often involves more than one stage of
processing

 For example, iron ore, coal, limestone, and other metals all products of primary industry - are used to make steel
 This is called primary manufacturing
 In the secondary manufacturing stage, the steel may be
used to make a car, a refrigerator, nails etc.
 Manufacturing industries are located in towns and cities
and in most cases in more densely populated areas
SECONDARY INDUSTRIES

Uses the products of primary manufacturing (e.g.
paper to make newspaper and books).
TERTIARY INDUSTRY



Tertiary Industry: Tertiary industries provide a wide range of
services that support primary and secondary industries
These industries DO NOT manufacture products. They provide
SERVICES such as transportation and retail outlets.
E.g. Airline, retail, sales, government, tourism and other
services
LET’S SEE IF YOU GET IT
SECTORS OF THE ECONOMY

A simple product like skates involves
all sectors of the economy
HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE
EMPLOYED IN EACH SECTOR?

In Canada, which sector do think employs
the most people?
CHANGE IN
EMPLOYMENT
IN CANADA
*Most Canadians are
employed in the
tertiary sector
CANADA’S ECONOMIC STRUCTURE
COMPARED TO OTHER COUNTRIES OF
THE WORLD (1998)
BASIC & NON-BASIC INDUSTRIES

Basic Industries: provide the money to support the local
economy (e.g. mining, logger, paper mill, steel mill)
– Industry that sells products outside of the local community
– Money comes primarily from outside the economy of the local town
– Without them, there would be no money entering the town and it
could not exist.
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) dec ompressor
are needed to see this picture.
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
BASIC & NON-BASIC
INDUSTRIES
Non-Basic Industries:
• Recycle the existing
money. (e.g. cook,
teacher, bank teller).
• Industry that sells within the
community
• Do not bring new
money into the local
economy.
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (Unc ompressed) decompress or
are needed to s ee this picture.
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Homework
1. Define, in your own words, and give three examples of each of the following: primary
industry, secondary industry, tertiary industry.
2. From the following list, indicated whether they are primary, secondary or tertiary
industries.
raw materials
manufacturing
factory
mining
civil servant
natural resources
ski resort
steel mill
construction
farming
car dealership
3. What is the difference between a basic industry and non-basic industry.
4.
a)
b)
c)
d)
Which of the following are basic and which are non-basic jobs? Explain each answer.
An assembly line worker in the Ford factory in Oakville
A fire fighter in your community
A wheat farmer in Saskatchewan
The artist who illustrated this book
5. Describe a situation in which each of the following jobs can be basic in nature and a
situation in which it can be non-basic:
a) A doctor
b) A bus driver
c) A golf professional