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The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) recently released its latest State of the Canadian Space Sector Report with data from 2020 and 2021. It shows a decline in total sector revenues from of 11% between 2019 to 2020 but was “virtually unchanged” between 2020 and 2021.
Revenue in 2019 was $5.489B while in 2020 that number had declined by $592M to $4.898B. In 2021 revenue was $4.896B, virtually unchanged from the previous year.
The report the CSA states that “COVID-19 and global supply chain issues continue to impact the global economy and contributed to the decline and stagnation of Canadian space sector revenues.”
Here are some of the highlights from the report.
Workforce Increases
While revenues were declining, the workforce also decreased slightly between 2019 – 2020 and then increased beyond 2019 levels in 2021.
The report states that “in 2020, the space sector workforce totalled 10,868 FTEs (Full Time Equivalents), a 3.3% decrease, or -368 FTEs. The space sector workforce rebounded in 2021, totalling 11,629 FTEs, a 7% increase, or +761 FTEs.”
Economic Impact – Gross Domestic Product
According to the CSA “The space sector contributed $2.7B to Canada’s GDP in 2020, and $2.8B in 2021. This represents the value of all final goods and services produced by the space sector within Canada.” The break is as follows:
2020
- $1.34B in space sector impacts;
- $0.60B in supply industry impacts; and
- $0.72B in impacts related to consumer spending by associated employees.
2021
- $1.41B in space sector impacts;
- $0.62B in supply industry impacts; and
- $0.78B in impacts related to consumer spending by associated employees.
Regional Distribution and Trends
Regional distribution of revenues has not changed much since 2019 with the vast majority of revenue concentrated in Ontario (55%) and Quebec (26%). Going forward we would might see some increase in the Atlantic region due to the development of Spaceport Nova Scotia. As for the Prairies and BC, and the three Arctic territories, it stands to reason that revenue in these regions could increase as more investments are made in Earth observation.
The CSA did note that “The North (Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut) reported revenues for the first time. They are minimal and therefore not included in the graphs, but may appear in tables discussing total revenues.”
Market Share By Sector of Activity
The CSA notes that “In 2020, COVID-19 significantly impacted revenues across all Canadian space sectors of activity, with the exception of revenue growth in Space Exploration, and flat revenues in the Navigation sector. In 2021, revenues recovered in all Canadian space sectors of activity from declines in 2020, with the exception of an additional decline in revenue for the Satellite Communication sector.”
Notably Earth Observation (EO) revenues increased between 2020-2021. The CSA states EO revenues “totalled $226M in 2020 and $270M in 2021, accounting for 5% and 6% of total space revenues, respectively. The majority of EO revenues (55% in 2020, and 57% in 2021) was in the downstream segment.”
Domestic vs Export Revenues
“For both 2020 and 2021, Canadian space revenues totalled $4.9B, of which 61% ($3.0B in 2020) and 64% ($3.1B in 2021) were from domestic sources, while the remaining 39% ($1.9B in 2020) and 36% ($1.8B in 2021) were from exports. Domestic revenues declined by 5.8%, or $184M, in 2020, and increased by 4%, or $120M, in 2021; exports declined by a significant 18%, or $407M in 2020, and declined an additional 6%, or $122M in 2021.”
Domestic vs. Export Revenues : 2017–2021 (in $M). Credit: Canadian Space Agency
USA – The U.S. remained the main destination for Canadian space exports, totalling 60% (2020) and 57% (2021) of total exports. Revenues derived from exports to the U.S. contracted by 22%, or $283M, from $1.29B in 2019 to $1.01B in 2021.
Europe – Europe remained Canada’s second largest market for space exports. Canadian exports to Europe declined by 9%, or ~$41M, from $437M in 2019 to $397M in 2021. Europe accounted for 21% (2020) and 22% (2021) of total exports.
Asia – Exports to Asia decreased by a significant 46%, or $168M, from $363M in 2019 to $195M in 2021. Asia accounted for 10% (2020) and 11% (2021) of total exports.
South America – Exports to South America decreased by 17%, or $20M, from $117M in 2019 to $97M in 2021. The region accounted for 5% of total exports in both 2020 and 2021.
Central America – Exports to Central America, the Caribbean and Mexico declined by 40%, or $12M, from $30M in 2019 to $18M in 2021. This region accounted for 1% of total export revenues in both 2020 and 2021.
Oceania – Exports to Oceania decreased by 30%, or $4.7M, from $16M in 2019 to $11M in 2021. Oceania accounted for 1% of total export revenues in both 2020 and 2021.
Africa – Export revenues from Africa decreased by 44%, or $9.3M, from $21M in 2019 to $12M in 2021. Africa accounted for 1% of total Canadian space export revenues in both 2020 and 2021.
Other – Finally, 1% ($24M in 2020) and 2% ($53M in 2021) of total exports were allocated to “other” region of the world.
Read or download the 2021 – 2022 State of the Canadian Space Sector Report
