Energy supply and demand

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2010 (preliminary) (Previous release)

In 2010, Canada produced about 21,213 petajoules of energy, up 3.6% from 2009. (One petajoule equals roughly the amount of energy required to operate the Montréal subway system for one year.)

In 2010, crude oil made up the largest proportion of production in Canada, at 29.3%. This was followed by natural gas (28.4%), refined petroleum products (21.9%), primary electricity (7.5%) and coal (7.1%).

In terms of total production in 2010, decreases were reported for natural gas (-3.3%) and electricity (-3.0%), while the production of refined petroleum products (+10.4%), coal (+10.0%) and crude oil (+6.8%) increased.

In 2010, the total net supply of energy was about 9,481 petajoules, up 2.1% from 2009.

Energy consumption increasing

After decreasing in 2008 and 2009, Canada's energy consumption increased 2.2% to about 7,622 petajoules of energy in 2010.

Increases from 2009 were reported by four sectors: forestry and logging (+15.6%), mining, oil and gas extraction (+14.2%), construction (+13.5%) and manufacturing (+2.1%). Consumption declined in the residential and agriculture sectors combined (-1.6%) and in the commercial and public administration sectors combined (-1.9%).

In 2010, the transportation sector (34.1%) consumed the largest proportion of energy in Canada, followed by the residential and agriculture sectors (19.9%), manufacturing (19.4%), commercial and public administration (15.1%), mining, oil and gas extraction (9.8%), construction (1.1%) and forestry and logging (0.4%).

Note to readers

Data from the Report on Energy Supply and Demand in Canada (RESD) for the years 2003 to 2010 have been revised to incorporate an important methodological enhancement to the annual Industrial Consumption of Energy survey, the report's primary source of data on energy consumption in the manufacturing sector.

In addition, data from the new annual Survey of Secondary Distributors of Refined Petroleum Products have been included beginning with the 2009 reference year. National level data will be available for the years from 2003 to 2010 while provincial data will be available from 2006.

These changes take effect with this release. CANSIM tables 128-0009, 128-0010 and 128-0015 have been terminated and replaced with CANSIM tables 128-0016, 128-0017 and 128-0018.

As a result of these updates, comparisons of the new dataset with earlier published RESD datasets should be done with caution.

Most energy consumed: Refined petroleum products

In 2010, most energy consumed in Canada was a refined petroleum product, representing 41.4% of all consumption. Natural gas accounted for 30.6% and primary electricity, 23.5%. Coal made up less than 1% of total consumption as more than 55% of the coal produced in Canada was exported.

Compared with 2009, consumption of petroleum products (for example, gasoline, diesel and aviation fuel) increased 4.1%, while consumption of electricity increased 1.3% and consumption of natural gas remained relatively constant. While accounting for less than 1% of total consumption, coal usage nonetheless increased almost 15% compared with 2009.

Provincial consumption: Highest in Ontario, Alberta and Quebec

Ontario, Alberta and Quebec continued to account for most of the energy consumed in Canada. In 2010, their combined share of total demand was 73.5%.

Individually, energy consumption increased in all provinces except Newfoundland and Labrador (-14.0%), Quebec (-2.1%) and Manitoba (-1.5%). Alberta's increase in consumption in 2010 placed it second to Ontario as the largest provincial consumer.

Exports and imports

Most of the energy and energy products produced in Canada are destined for the export market. In 2010, Canada exported about 9,700 petajoules of energy and energy products, up 3.1% from 2009.

In 2010, Canada exported 63% of its crude oil, 61% of its marketable natural gas, 55% of its coal, and 20% of its refined petroleum products.

Canada imported approximately 3,600 petajoules of energy in 2010, down 1.1% from 2009.

While almost half of all imports were crude oil, natural gas accounted for 24% of imports, while refined petroleum products accounted for 15% and coal, 8%. Together, these products and commodities made up 97% of energy-related imports.

Available on CANSIM: tables 128-0012 to 128-0018.

Definitions, data sources and methods: survey numbers, including related surveys, 2003, 2147, 2148, 2149, 2150, 2151, 2167, 2168, 2191, 2194, 2196, 2198, 5047 and 5168.

The 2010 issue of Report on Energy Supply and Demand in Canada (57-003-X, free) will soon be available.

For more information or to order data, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact the dissemination officer (toll-free 1-866-873-8789; 613-951-9497; energ@statcan.gc.ca), Manufacturing and Energy Division.