The objective of this study is to measure ORION’s social and economic impact resulting from its operations and capital expenditures, network contributions from its constituents, and its cybersecurity services. This research provides an update of ORION’s impact previously reported in 2015. Metrics that will be used to understand ORION’s contributions for the 2020 fiscal year include GDP, jobs, private investment, and government revenues.
ORION plays a pivotal role in Ontario’s research, education, and innovation ecosystem by providing network and cybersecurity services to institutions across the province. In 2020, ORION contributed over $10.1 billion in economic activity, largely from the use of its network by its constituents. The vast majority of this economic activity, $9.5 billion, was in Ontario. Meanwhile, over 42,000 FTE jobs, including 36,000 in Ontario, are supported through the indirect and induced economic activity contributed by ORION. Cybersecurity education, training, protections and monitoring help to ensure the network reliability of its constituents and connection to larger national and international research networks enable research not possible over traditional commercial networks.
Over the past several years, utilization of ORION’s network and services has been increasing. As research and innovation continues to drive Ontario’s prosperity, we can expect ORION’s importance to the province and its economy to continue to grow.
Download Report: ORION-Socioeconomic-Impact-2020-21
