The aluminum industry is an important manufacturing sector in Canada, with 10 primary aluminum smelters, one of them located at Kitimat, British Columbia, and the other nine in Quebec. With nearly 6% of world production, Canada is the world’s fourth-largest aluminum producer, after China, Middle East and Russia.

Aluminum’s lightness, solidity, durability, flexibility, high conductivity, resistance to corrosion and affordability make it a metal with considerable growth potential, in both its pure and alloy forms.

Regional economic driver

In Quebec, Alouette, Rio Tinto Alcan and Alcoa have concentrated their aluminum production operations in outlying regions, including the St. Lawrence North Shore, creating thousands of jobs and major opportunities for the hundreds of businesses that supply the industry and transform aluminum into finished products.