The Canadian economy is usually described in hard-to-fathom annual aggregates, but with an extra 24-hours tucked into the calendar at the end of February this year, it seemed like a good time to ask: just how much gets done in a day around here? From housing starts to new immigrants arrivals to kilograms of lobster caught, The Financial Post’s Zeba Khan, Kevin Martine and Julia Mastroianni found the answers. Daily averages are derived from various government and industry sources, based on most recent available figures.
People
1020 babies are born — Canada’s birth rate has been declining while the death rate is rising, but the number of births still outpace the number of deaths (777) per day.
918 new immigrants arrive — Permanent and temporary international migration accounted for 83.4 per cent of the total Canadian population growth in the third quarter of 2019.
1,020 babies are born a day in Canada.
82 new millionaires are minted — According to the Credit Suisse global wealth report, which defines millionaire as any individual with wealth of US$1 million, Canada is now home to more than 1.3 million millionaires.
1,376 people become seniors — Canada’s population is aging and the percentage who will be age 65 or older is expected to rise to 25 per cent from 17 per cent by the end of the decade, a recent report from RBC found.
57,808 international tourists arrive — They spend a total of $60,273,972.60 per day, with visitors from China and Australia spending the most on average per trip, at $2,600 and $2,300, respectively.
Commodities
The 187.7 carat gem-quality rough diamond, known as The Diavik Foxfire, was discovered at the Diavik Diamond Mine in the remote Northwest Territories of Canada.
4,240,584 barrels of crude oil are produced — Mining, quarrying and oil and gas extraction contributed 107.7 billion to overall GDP.
63.7 carats of diamonds are mined — Most Canadian diamonds are mined in Northwest Territories.
266,800 kilograms of lobster are caught — Lobster makes up approximately $1.4 billion of the $3.67 billion worth of catch from Canadian seafisheries.
88,493 tonnes of wheat are harvested — Canada exported $5.7 billion worth of wheat in 2018, making it the second-highest worldwide wheat exporter behind Russia.
36,164 gallons of maple syrup are produced — The total value of maple products rose by 34.2 per cent year over year to $517.5 million in 2019.
Indicators
260 small and medium-sized businesses are created — This offsets the 233 small and medium businesses that disappear daily. Just under 50 per cent of SMEs created in the goods-producing sector survive at least 10 years.
538 housing starts are recorded — The average length of construction across all dwelling types is 16 months.
876 jobs are created — 2019 was a banner year for jobs in Canada, with Ontario leading the way to more than 240,000 full-time jobs created.
$207.12 in wages are paid, per person — This is the average amount a Canadian earns in a day, assuming a five-day work week. Nominal wages rose 4.6 per cent last year.
394,953 tonnes of cargo pass through the Port of Vancouver — By comparison, the Port of Halifax handles 13,150 tonnes of cargo every day.
Spending
5,578 new cars and trucks are purchased — That checks in just below 5,589 cars and trucks manufactured in the country each day.
$60.5 million is spent online (from Canadian-based retailers) — Retail e-commerce sales accounted for 4.7 per cent of total retail trade in 2019, the largest share on record.
$6.97 worth of groceries purchased, per person — A 2018 Dalhousie University study found the average Canadian visits a grocery store 5.43 time per month.
$7.25 million is spent on spectator sports — Only 12.6 per cent of spectator sport sales are bought online.
$1 billion is spent by the federal government — About $72.9 million of that is borrowed, adding to the national debt.
