Canada's natural resource wealth, 2017
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Released: 2019-04-10
$ 715 billion
2017
91.7% 
(annual change)
Higher oil and mineral prices combined to drive up the value of natural resource assets in 2017. Overall, the value of Canada's natural resource assets totalled $715 billion, up 92% from 2016. The increase follows a 7% decline the previous year.
Energy resources accounted for 53% of the value of all natural resource assets in 2017, followed by timber (33%) and mineral resources (14%).
Energy resource assets, which consist of coal, crude bitumen, crude oil and natural gas, totalled $377 billion in 2017, up from $87 billion in 2016. The rise follows a 2% increase the previous year and an 89% decline in 2015. The increase in energy resource assets in 2017 was the result of higher crude bitumen prices.
The value of mineral assets rose 53% in 2017 to $101 billion following a 41% decline the previous year. The increase was mainly attributable to higher commodity prices compared with the previous year. The main contributors to the increase were copper, gold and iron values.
The value of timber assets rose 8% in 2017, identical to the rise in 2016.
Chart 1
Natural resource assets, 2007 to 2017
Note to readers
Asset valuations for conventional crude oil and natural gas were combined in order to harmonize with industry expenditure and investment reporting that reflects the integrated nature of oil and gas field and well operations.
Natural resource wealth estimates have been incorporated into the annual estimates of national wealth at the aggregate level for several years, however, Statistics Canada formally integrated natural resource wealth into the quarterly national balance sheet accounts (NBSA) in December 2015.
The annual estimates provide resource detail and complement the resource wealth estimates in the quarterly NBSA found in Table 36-10-0580-01.
Additional information on the treatment of natural resource wealth in the NBSA is available in the article "Natural resource wealth statistics in the National Balance Sheet Accounts."
Contact information
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