Natural resources are an important economic theme in Canadian economic history, and their development is a key source of the nation’s wealth. Whether wheat and barley, timber and pulp, mineral products, or oil and gas, the export of these resources—the export of resource staples— has been instrumental in generating employment and value-added industries as well as helping drive the development of national transportation infrastructure.
Indeed, Canada is generally acknowledged to have what trade economists refer to as a comparative advantage in natural resource products.
