Advanced Manufacturing - Dynamic Economic Engine

Manufacturing is a key driver of the Waterloo Region economy given its export-orientation. Today, the Waterloo Region has the most diverse and perhaps the most dynamic concentration of advanced manufacturing in Canada. The sector has been at the heart of the Waterloo Region’s success from its early days. From buttons to rubber to solar power applications, manufacturing in the Region is characterized by continuous reinvention in terms of the type and range of products, and the skill sets of those employed in the sector.

The Waterloo Region is recognized as one of North America’s prominent advanced technology clusters. This presents the unique advantage of overlaying leadership in automotive and advanced production technologies with software, information, communication, sensing, optics, imaging, laser, mechatronics, bio, nano and other leading-edge technologies – all concentrated in the same geographic area.

Today, manufacturers in the Region are on the forefront of creating and integrating leading edge technologies, materials and advanced processes including aerospace and satellite products, intelligent systems and controls, interfaces and integration systems, machine vision and sensor devices, rapid prototyping and robotics. Manufacturers in the Region have been particularly successful at being highly responsive to niche needs. Technology driven manufacturing is fed by a Knowledge Creation cluster (universities, colleges, research institutes, private sector R&D) that is world-class.

Manufacturing Presence

Total Manufacturing Employment

	Ontario		Waterloo Region
Year	Average Employment	Year/Year Change	Average Employment	Year/Year Change
1998	980,610	-	54,300	-
1999	1,035,100	+5.6%	60,800	+12.0%
2000	1,074,600	+3.8%	68,900	+11.8%
2001	1,067,700	-0.6%	63,500	-7.8%
2002	1,093,900	+2.5%	61,500	-3.1%
2003	1,093,300	-0.1%	62,500	+1.6%
2004	1,099,800	+0.5%	62,900	+0.6%
2005	1,064,000	-3.3%	62,600	-0.5%
2006	1,007,200	-5.3%	62,000	-1.0%
2007	950,000	-5.6%	58,600	-5.5%
Net Change 2007/1998		-3.1%		+7.9%
Net Change 2007/2001		-11.0%		-7.7%

Source: Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey

Research and Development

In 2004 R&D expenditures within the manufacturing sector reached $212,521,000. Between 1995 and 2004, manufacturing sector R&D increased 91.1%

Education Support

The University of Waterloo is home to the Waterloo Centre for Automotive Research (WatCAR), whose focus is to leverage on the existing research foundation and support major breakthroughs and innovations to the automotive sector.

Conestoga College ITAL offers over 60 career-related programs, including two Bachelor of Applied Technology (Co-op) degrees in Advanced Manufacturing.

Manufacturing Innovation Network

A new online manufacturing portal community – Manufacturing Innovation Network (MIN) was established in 2008 to improve communication and productivity in the manufacturing sector. MIN is a portal community and social networking hub for members of the manufacturing sector to facilitate collaboration and share best practices with one another. MIN will also help businesses self-promote and connect with other local suppliers, rather than shopping halfway around the world for raw materials or services. The portal was conceived by the City of Kitchener and IGLOO Inc. (IT developer of a global platform for easy to use online communities), and championed by the Excellence in Manufacturing Consortium (EMC).

Nanotechnology/Quantum Computing

Central to the Nanotechnology Initiative at the University of Waterloo (UW) are the Giga-to-nano Electronics Laboratory and WATLABs. UW is committed to a $70 million dollar investment into a new state-of-the-art 30,000 square foot teaching and research building for nanotechnology and the Institute for Quantum Computing. UW’s BASc co-op Program in nanotechnology engineering will have a graduate enrolment of 500 students at full capacity, draw together researchers from across the campus, and attract talented new faculty.

Resource Documents

Description	Download
CTT - Advanced Manufacturing Feature Sheet
Ontario's Advanced Plastics Industry
Ontario's Advanced Manufacturing Industry
Ontario – the Core of Canada's Machinery Industry
Canada as an Investment Destination for Machinery Manufacturing
Canada's Auto Industry Stats – 2007
Changing Gears – Skills Transition in Canadian Automotive Industry
Driving Automotive Innovation – 2008 (PwC Automotive Institute)