Mining Supply Sector Huge in Sudbury and Northern Ontario – by Marilyn Scales

Marilyn Scales is a field editor for the Canadian Mining Journal, Canada’s first mining publication. She is one of Canada’s most senior mining commentators.

We in the mineral industry often speak of “direct jobs” generated at mines and mills and “indirect employment”, those jobs as suppliers, manufacturers and consultants that spring up to serve the needs of the industry. We know that for every person directly employed by the mining industry there are several others indirectly employed.

Those numbers and others aspects of mining’s importance have been pinned down in a new survey prepared for the Sudbury Area Mining Service and Supply Association (SAMSSA). The Northern Ontario Mining Supply and Services Study looks at about 500 separate firms and organizations in what might arguably be called the “heart” of the mining sector.

The study found approximately 23,000 people are employed in the supply sector. That is a more generous number than the Ontario Mining Association came up with. But the OMA estimate of 480 direct mine jobs and 2,280 supply and services jobs in the province sounds too low by a factor of 10. The difference is probably due to differing definitions of what is a “mine” job or an “indirect” job. Either way, keep the multiplier effect in mind.

The SAMSSA study put a value of $5.6 billion on the supply and services sector in Northern Ontario.

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