Alberta's oilsands touted as giants of Canada's economy

Alberta's oilsands contributed more to Canada's economy than the entire province of Saskatchewan, suggests a new study released Wednesday.

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According to Oilsands Economic Benefits: Today and in the Future,the oilsandscontributed $91 billion of Canada's gross domestic product (GDP) and is the giant of Canada's economy.

"[Oilsands] production already represents a significant economic contribution to the Canadian economy, with annual expenditures already greater than the gross domestic product of half of the Canadian provinces," said Jackie Forrest, IHS's senior director in charge of the Oil Sands Dialogue project.

"Those contributions, in terms of jobs, economic growth and government revenues will continue to grow along with [oilsands] development."

The report suggests theoilsandswill support more than 753,000 jobs by 2025.

That number isnearly double the current number of jobs supported by the fields, which hovers around 478,000, and would be equivalent to five per cent of Canada's total employment in 2012.

The report also predicts production from the oilsands will double by 2025 to nearly four million barrels per day.

It also suggests government revenues collected from the oilsands will grow to $61 billion in the same time period.