Zarek Taylor Grossman Hanrahan LLP

Ontario Is Canada's Leading Manufacturing Province Accounting For 52% Of The Total National Manufacturing Shipments In 2004. Ontario's Largest Trading Partner Is The American State Of Michigan As Of April 2012 Moody's Bond-rating Agency Rated Ontario Debt At AA2/stable, While S&P Rated It AA-. Dominion Bond Rating Service Rated It AA(low) In January 2013. Long Known As A Bastion Of Canadian Manufacturing And Financial Solvency Ontario's Public Debt-to-GDP Ratio Is Projected To Be 37.2% In Fiscal Year 2019�2020 Compared To 26% In 2007�2008 Mining And The Forest Products Industry Notably Pulp And Paper Are Vital To The Economy Of Northern Ontario As Of 2011 Roughly 200,000 Ha Are Clearcut Each Year; Herbicides For Hardwood Suppression Are Applied To A Third Of The Total. There Has Been Controversy Over The Ring Of Fire Mineral Deposit And Whether The Province Can Afford To Spend CAD$2.25 Billion On A Road From The Trans-Canada Highway Near Kenora To The Deposit Currently Valued At CAD$60 Billions A Ship In Hamilton Harbour The City Continues To Be A Centre For Steel Manufacturing In Canada An Abundance Of Natural Resources Excellent Transportation Links To The American Heartland And The Inland Great Lakes Making Ocean Access Possible Via Container Ships Have All Contributed To Making Manufacturing The Principal Industry Of The Province Found Mainly In The Golden Horseshoe Region Which Is The Largest Industrialized Area In Canada The Southern End Of The Region Being Part Of The North American Rust Belt Important Products Include Motor Vehicles Iron Steel Food Electrical Appliances Machinery Chemicals And Paper Hamilton Is The Largest Steel Manufacturing City In Canada Followed Closely By Sault Ste Marie And Sarnia Is The Centre For Petrochemical Production Construction Employed More Than 6.5% Of The Province's Work Force In June 2011. Ontario's Steel Industry Was Once Centered In Hamilton Hamilton Harbour Which Can Be Seen From The QEW Skyway Bridge Is An Industrial Wasteland; U.S Steel-owned Stelco Announced In The Autumn Of 2013 That It Would Close In 2014 With The Loss Of 875 Jobs The Move Flummoxed A Union Representative Who Seemed Puzzled Why A Plant With Capacity Of 2 Million Tons Per Annum Would Be Shut While Canada Imported 8 Million Tons Of Steel The Previous Year. Algoma Steel Maintains A Plant In Sault Ste Marie A Worker At The Oakville Assembly Installs A Battery In An Automobile The Automotive Industry Is A Contributor To The Economy Of Ontario Ontario Surpassed Michigan In Car Production Assembling 2.696 Million Vehicles In 2004 Ontario Has Chrysler Plants In Windsor And Bramalea Two GM Plants In Oshawa And One In Ingersoll A Honda Assembly Plant In Alliston Ford Plants In Oakville And St Thomas And Toyota Assembly Plants In Cambridge And Woodstock However As A Result Of Steeply Declining Sales In 2005 General Motors Announced Massive Layoffs At Production Facilities Across North America Including Two Large GM Plants In Oshawa And A Drive Train Facility In St Catharines That Resulted In 8,000 Job Losses In Ontario Alone In 2006 Ford Motor Company Announced Between 25,000 And 30,000 Layoffs Phased Until 2012; Ontario Was Spared The Worst But Job Losses Were Announced For The St Thomas Facility And The Windsor Casting Plant However These Losses Will Be Offset By Ford's Recent Announcement Of A Hybrid Vehicle Facility Slated To Begin Production In 2007 At Its Oakville Plant And GM's Re-introduction Of The Camaro Which Will Be Produced In Oshawa On December 4 2008 Toyota Announced The Grand Opening Of The RAV4 Plant In Woodstock And Honda Also Plans To Add An Engine Plant At Its Facility In Alliston Despite These New Plants Coming Online Ontario Has Not Yet Fully Recovered Following Massive Layoffs Caused By The Global Recession; Its Unemployment Rate Was 7.3% In May 2013, Compared To 8.7 Percent In January 2010 And Approximately 6% In 2007 In September 2013 The Ontario Government Committed CAD$70.9 Million To The Ford Plant In Oakville While The Federal Government Committed CAD$71.1mn To Secure 2,800 Jobs The Province Has Lost 300,000 Manufacturing Jobs In The Decade From 2003 And The Bank Of Canada Noted That "while The Energy And Mining Industries Have Benefitted From These Movements The Pressure On The Manufacturing Sector Has Intensified Since Many Firms In This Sector Were Already Dealing With Growing Competition From Low-cost Economies Such As China."