Ontario is the engine of Canada’s economy, accounting for nearly 40% of total national GDP each year between 1997 and 2017. In particular, its automotive manufacturing industry accounted for between 90% and 95% of national automotive manufacturing GDP. Not only is Ontario a key driver of Canada’s automotive manufacturing industry, automotive manufacturing is also an important component of the provincial economy.

As of 2017, motor vehicle manufacturing (including both assembly and parts manufacturing) represented 2% of Ontario’s total GDP, equivalent to over $14 billion, and 2% of the province’s total workforce.

Ontario was home to over 14.3 million people as of 2018, accounting for just under 39% of Canada’s total population. The population has grown by 28% since 1997, by 12% since 2007 and by 6% over the past five years. Ontario’s population is expected to reach 14.7 million by 2020 and surpass 15.0 million by 2022. While the provincial population will continue growing beyond that point, surpassing 16.0 million by 2026 and 17.0 million by 2030, the annual population growth rate is projected to decline slightly over the coming decade. Population growth in Ontario has largely been driven by migration over the past two decades. Net migration accounted for well over 70% of the total change in the province’s population in 2018, the largest share seen in the province since 2002.

Ontario’s reliance on migration to drive population growth is expected to increase over the coming decade. The proportion of the total provincial population change accounted for by net migration is expected to reach 80% by 2020 and nearly 90% by 2030 based on current trends. The province is expected to see an aging trend in its population, with the share of the population aged 65 years and over projected to increase from 16% in 2016 to 22% by 2030. The provincial unemployment rate, or the proportion of unemployed person in the labour force, was relatively low at 5.6% in 2018, just below the national average of 5.8%.