That dollar amount represents a 35.1% increase from $227.2 billion four years earlier in 2020.
Year over year, the overall value of Ontarian exported goods slowed to a 1.2% advance compared to $303.2 billion for 2023.
Ontario ranks as Canada’s most lucrative exporter by province or territory ahead of other leading provinces Alberta, Quebec and British Columbia.
The value of Ontario’s exports equals 39.4% of Canada’s overall exported products for 2024, down from 39.5% in 2023.
Based on statistics from the website Statista, Ontario’s exported products represent around 36% of the province’s total economic output or Gross Domestic Product ($852.7 billion for 2023).
Given Ontario’s population of 14.4 million people, its total Cdn$306.8 billion in 2024 exports translates to about $21,250 for every resident in the Central Canadian province. That dollar metric outpaces the average $21,200 per capita for the prior year.
Ontario’s reported unemployment rate was 7.8% at then end of April 2025, up from 6.8% one year earlier per YCharts.
Ontario’s Top 10 Exports
The following export products represent the highest dollar value for Ontario’s global shipments during 2024. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from Ontario.
Figures are shown at the more granular six-digit Harmonized Tariff System code level, for more precise product identification.
- Gold (unwrought): US$33.1 billion (10.8% of Ontario’s total exports)
- Mid-sized automobiles (piston engine): $18.9 billion (6.2%)
- Automobiles (both piston engine/electric motor): $8.5 billion (2.8%)
- Miscellaneous medications: $7.8 billion (2.5%)
- Motor vehicle body parts, accessories: $6.7 billion (2.2%)
- Large automobiles (piston engine): $6.4 billion (2.1%)
- Small automobiles (piston engine): $5.6 billion (1.8%)
- Breads, pastry, cakes, biscuits, wafers, similar goods: $4.7 billion (1.5%)
- Small gas-powered trucks: $4.4 billion (1.4%)
- Large spark-ignition engines: $3.1 billion (1%)
- Miscellaneous motor vehicle parts: $3 billion (1%)
- Motor vehicle transmissions, related parts: $1.87 billion (0.6%)
- Motorized armoured fighting vehicles, tanks: $1.86 billion (0.6%)
- Natural uranium $1.76 billion (0.6%)
Ontario’s top 15 exports accounted for 35.7% of the overall value of the province’s global shipments in 2024, up from 34.7% for 2023.
Natural uranium was the fastest grower among Ontario’s top 15 export products, up by 94.6% from 2023 to 2024.
In second place for improving export sales were automobiles powered both piston and electric motors, thanks to a 63.3% rise.
Ontario’s shipments of unwrought gold posted the third-fastest gain in value up by 45.7%.
Other major increases belonged to Ontarian exports of mid-sized automobiles with piston engines only (up 52.1%) then large spark-ignition engines (up 32.5%).
The severest double-digit declines among Ontario’s top 15 export products were for exports of large automobiles powered by piston engine (down -49.2% from 2023), mid-sized automobiles powered by piston engine (down -18.5%), large spark-ignition engines (down -16.5%), then motorized armoured fighting vehicles and tanks (down -16.4%).
More Key Facts about Ontario’s International Trade
Ontario incurred a -Cdn$157.4 billion deficit exporting and importing products during 2024. That dollar amount reflects a 1.7% expansion from -$154.7 billion in red ink for 2023.
Another way of saying surplus or deficit is positive or negative net exports. In a nutshell, the term “net exports” quantifies the amount by which foreign spending on a province’s goods or services exceeds or lags that same province’s spending on foreign goods or services.
All told, Ontario bought Cdn$464.2 billion worth of products from around the globe in 2024.
Below are Ontario’s top 10 import products highlighting the province’s highest spending on foreign-origin goods in 2024.
- Mid-sized automobiles (piston engine): US$16.9 billion (3.7% of Ontario’s total imports)
- Small gas-powered trucks: $13 billion (2.8%)
- Gold (unwrought): $12.8 billion (2.8%)
- Smartphones: $9.2 billion (2%)
- Miscellaneous medications: $9 billion (1.9%)
- Large automobiles (piston engine): $8.2 billion (1.8%)
- Electric vehicles: $7.5 billion (1.6%)
- Small portable computing devices: $5.9 billion (1.3%)
- Large spark-ignition engines: $5.8 billion (1.3%)
- Gold scrap $5.7 billion (1.2%)
Historically, Ontario has recorded negative net exports in the international trade of goods including small gas-powered trucks, smartphones and miscellaneous medications packaged for retail sale. In turn, these cashflows indicate Ontario’s competitive disadvantages under those product categories.
Ontario’s Major Trade Partners
The following list shows the highly concentrated top 10 customers that purchase 94.2% worth of the total value of products exported from the province of Ontario during 2024. That percentage lags the 94.3% one year earlier.
- United States: US$243.9 billion (79.5% of Ontario’s total exports)
- United Kingdom: $23.9 billion (7.8%)
- Mexico: $4.4 billion (1.4%)
- mainland China: $3.01 billion (1%)
- Switzerland: $2.98 billion (1%)
- Germany: $2.8 billion (0.9%)
- Hong Kong: $2.4 billion (0.8%)
- Japan: $2.2 billion (0.7%)
- Norway: $2 billion (0.7%)
- Netherlands: $1.6 billion (0.5%)
Ontario’s top trade partners in North America (United States and Mexico) buy 80.9% of the overall value of exported goods from The Heartland Province.
Another 10.8% of Ontarian export sales were bought by major importers In Europe (United Kingdom, Switzerland, Germany, Norway and the Netherlands).
Ontarian Export Companies
Below are some of Canada’s largest businesses that are involved in international trade either directly or indirectly. Their corporate headquarters are in the province of Ontario.
- Advanz Pharma (pharmaceuticals)
- Barrick Gold (mining)
- Brookfield Asset Management (finance)
- Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (finance)
- First Quantum Minerals (mining)
- Magna International (automotive parts)
- Rogers Communications (telecommunications)
- Scotiabank (finance)
- Shopify (e-commerce)
- Toronto-Dominion Bank (finance)
Shown within brackets for each company is a summary of the international trade-related products or services which each business manages.
Ontario’s capital is Toronto, a municipality nicknamed “the Six”. That moniker refers to the original cities of original cities of Toronto, North York, Scarborough, York, Etobicoke, and the former borough of East York.
See also Canada’s Top 10 Exports, Canada’s Top 10 Imports and Quebec’s Top Exports
Research Sources:
Canada Population, Ontario Population. Accessed on May 9, 2025
FlagPictures.org, C.A. Provinces. Accessed on May 9, 2025
Government of Canada, Trade Data Online, Total exports, Distribution by province. Accessed on May 9, 2025
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on May 9, 2025
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on May 9, 2025
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on May 9, 2025
Ontario Demographic Quarterly, Highlights of Second Quarter. Accessed on May 9, 2025
Statista, GDP of Ontario in Canada. Accessed on May 9, 2025
Wikipedia, List of largest public companies in Canada by profit. Accessed on May 9, 2025
Wikipedia, List of provincial and territorial nicknames in Canada. Accessed on May 9, 2025
Wikipedia, List of largest companies in Canada. Accessed on May 9, 2025
Wikipedia, Category:Manufacturing companies of Canada. Accessed on May 9, 2025
Wikipedia, Ontario. Accessed on May 9, 2025
YCharts, Canada Labour Force Survey Report. Accessed on May 9, 2025