Mining industry contributed Canada $9b in taxes last year, study finds
Last year saw the government of Canada collect $9 billion in tax payments from the nation's mining industry, according to a study commissioned by the Mining Association of Canada.
A 21 percent advance in the value of Canadian mineral production to a record amount of $50.3 billion was largely responsible for the tax payment, the ENTRANS Policy Research Group study found, according to Minieweb.
"The strength of the study is that it measures one of the significant economic contributions of the Canadian mining industry both nationally and regionally," chief executive officer Pierre Gratton with the Mining Association of Canada told the news source. "Canadians from coast to coast benefit from a strong, competitive mining industry that supports critical government services such as health care, education and skills training, as well as creates hundreds of thousands of well-paying jobs."
The policy group indicated that the federal and provincial governments' receipt of revenue payments were supported by "generally higher metals prices and increased production," also known as mine optimisation, the report found.
The past 10-year period has seen the government collect $69 billion, which breaks down as $30 billion to the federal government and $39 billion to provinces.
And royalty and mining tax payments between 2002-2003 and 2008-2009 increased nearly 10-times from $570 million to $5.3 billion.
Two provinces - Alberta and Saskatchewan - accounted for 64 percent of the nation's mineral royalties in 2011-2012, the report found.
Based in Ottawa, Canada, ENTRANS was established in 2007 by four men whose involvement in the industry dates back as far as 30 years, the firm's website
states.