Why This Is The Time To Seek Work In The Auto Industry

The production of automobile and automobile components is a big business in Canada. In fact, Canada is the largest producer of vehicles in North America, employing about one in every seven Canadians either directly or indirectly.

The Canadian auto industry excels in different areas of expertise that you may pursue a career in, including:

1. Metal processing

These include:

• Welding and joining
• Cutting and machining
• Advanced casting of light metals
• Sheet and tube forming
• Powder metallurgy
2. Advanced technologies

These include:

• Mechatronics
• Hydroforming
• Powertrain engineering
• Clean diesels
• Fuel cells, hydrogen, and alternative fuels
3. Advanced materials

These include:

• Nanomaterials
• Biomaterials
• Lightweight materials
4. Advanced design, visualisation and manufacturing

Areas of expertise include:

• Laser imaging
• Inspection and vision systems
• Virtual design
• Tooling and robotics
• Laser deposition, stereo-lithography

The auto industry in North America is driven by US corporations and the US market, but owing to the economic situation in the US, Canada is the preferred location for international companies looking to expand or develop their markets throughout the continent. There are many reasons for this, including the fiscal security in Canada, which makes these companies less prone to risks.

Here are some other facts about the Canadian auto industry that make it a great place to work:

• There are five giant automakers operating car and light truck assembly plants in the country: Ford, General Motors, Fiat Chrysler, Toyota, and Honda. There are another six firms that produce heavy trucks and buses
• Canada has a highly developed auto-parts sector, with manufacturer’s’ in-house transmission and engine plants, and another 600 independent parts facilities
• 6,527 vehicles were built in Canada in 2014 per day, with a total of 2,384,208 that year
• In 2014, the auto industry produced vehicles and parts worth $83 billion (or $227 million per day)
• The auto industry directly employs over 120,000 people in Canada, with paychecks contributing $7.3 billion to the nation’s economy in 2014
• Thousands more jobs exist to supply the auto industry: plastics, steel, rubber, and other manufacturing and services. A lot more jobs are created by the spending power of workers in the auto industry
• The primary original operations for equipment manufacturing are estimated to produce 362,000 extra jobs throughout the economy
• The auto industry accounts for over 400,000 jobs across the nation, including spin-off jobs

As well, concerns that the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) could cost the Canadian auto manufacturing sector about 20,000 jobs are misinformed.

Even if the industry chooses to outsource 25 per cent of its existing value added activity to jurisdictions outside of the TPP, the local sector will still remain largely unchanged. This is because 85 percent of vehicles assembled in Canada were exported, while 80 percent of the vehicles driven by Canadians were imported. Introducing another automaker does not necessarily mean that the local auto sector will weaken.

So, the auto industry is still booming, and is still one of the best places you can work in the country.