Thousands of innovative manufacturers call Ontario home. These companies manufacture everything from aircraft and cars to ice cream and vaccines. While small and medium-sized companies play an important role within Ontario’s advanced manufacturing ecosystem, the province is also home to a network of large and globally-competitive manufacturers, many of which are renowned throughout the world. What all of these companies have in common is that they have chosen Ontario as a location for investment, innovation, and growth.

This data bulletin is a companion piece to our recently-launched ‘Top 100’ vertical, which is available through TrilliumGIS. TrilliumGIS is an online asset-mapping application that provides information about thousands of Ontario manufacturers. The ‘Top 100’ vertical provides information specifically about the 100 largest manufacturers in Ontario as measured by employment. Taken together, these manufacturers operate 497 facilities, employ approximately 186,780 people (or 30 per cent of the province’s manufacturing employment), and account for more than one-third of Ontario manufacturing output.

The top of the list is dominated by Canadian-owned automotive parts manufacturers Magna and Linamar and by global automakers such as Toyota, Stellantis, and Honda. Rounding off the top 10 are steelmaker ArcelorMittal and two Canadian-owned companies: Maple Leaf Foods and generic pharmaceutical product manufacturer Apotex. The diversity of Ontario’s advanced manufacturing ecosystem starts to show a little further down the list: the next 10 biggest manufacturers include aerospace manufacturers Bombardier and Raytheon, food manufacturers Cargill, FGF Brands (which recently acquired a large portion of Weston Foods), and PepsiCo, as well as automotive parts manufacturers Multimatic and Flex-n Gate.

The remainder of the list features well-known and less well-known companies alike. Estee Lauder is joined by Canadian-based cosmetics manufacturers Crystal Claire and Cosmetica Laboratories. Chapman’s Ice Cream and Saputo are joined by internationally-controlled dairy product manufacturers such as Lactalis and Nestle. In a welcome surprise, the Government of Canada also made the list (via the Royal Canadian Mint in Ottawa).

The Top 100 include 46 Canadian-owned companies that employ more than 85,000 people. US-owned companies (n=28) are the second largest group, and employ 48,655 people. Japanese-owned companies (n=9), all of which are part of the automotive industry, are the third largest group, and employ 22,630 people. Together, Canadian-, US-, and Japanese-owned companies account for nearly 84 per cent of persons employed by Top 100 companies.

Automakers and automotive parts manufacturers (n=29) are featured prominently in this list. These companies employ 88,687 people and are by far the largest industry group among the Top 100 companies. Food manufacturers (n=18) represent the next largest group, and employ 28,881 people. Primary metal (5 companies, 14,233 employees) and aerospace (8 companies, 9,792 employees) manufacturers ranked third and fourth, respectively.

For more information about these companies, which are a vital component of Ontario’s advanced manufacturing ecosystem, see the ‘Top 100’ feature on TrilliumGIS.