This figure illustrates the importance of the main water uses in Canada. Some uses require much more water than others.
Some uses are more efficient than others.
The manufacturing sector, for example, has a gross use almost twice the water intake, thanks to recirculation. The mining industry reuses its water four times. Some uses consume more water than others. Agricultural uses, for example, return very little of the intake water to its source. In southern Alberta and Saskatchewan, agricultural withdrawals are highest for irrigation where water supplies are lowest.