Industry Facts

Sydney is the largest part of Cape Breton Regional Municipality, the third largest metropolitan area in Atlantic Canada.

Local products by export-ready businesses are being distributed world-wide. Among these are locally made emergency response simulators, organic based fertilizer pellets, safety lights, distance education, CD-ROMS, coal.. even cheesecakes and ostrich meat!

The locally organized Celtic Colours International Festival has certainly been a boon to the already successful music and culture industry of Cape Breton with a significant economic impact on the tourism industry. Statistics Canada recently announced that this industry is creating jobs at a faster rate than any other sector of the provincial economy.

Traditional economic mainstay industries such as coal and steel production have run their course and are now being supplanted by Information Technology. A further bright spot in the near future is natural gas production from the newly discovered fields offshore. This development is purported to significantly impact the region's economy.

Local Multimedia and Software developers are getting extensive world recognition and acclaim. The Information Technology sector is a $24 million industry and employs over 800 people. The area's soil readily produces the diverse talents necessary for this field to produce: artists, writers, musicians and technical know-how. Such a fertile ground is this that new life has entered a derilect building in Sydney's downtown area. This new facility has been given an appropriate title: Silicon Island Art and Innovation Centre. It is a multimedia and digital technology business incubation, innovation and entrepreneurship centre.

Agriculture is a $33 milliion dollar industry in Cape Breton and the Cape Breton County Exhibition is the third largest in Nova Scotia.