The report shows that coal makes a significant contribution to the British Columbia economy through employment, tax revenue and contribution to provincial GDP.

In 2011, the coal industry generated an estimated $3.2 billion in provincial GDP and approximately $715.2 million in tax revenue for all levels of government including $399 million in tax revenue generated by economic activity and $316.2 million in mineral tax payments to British Columbia.

The province has 12.9 billion tonnes of potentially mineable coal and ten operating coal mines.

Nine of the 10 coal mines in BC produce metallurgical coal and one produces thermal coal.

In 2011, BC coal production accounted for almost 40% of national coal production and coal accounted for 22% of total exports from BC.

Over 26,000 jobs in BC are attributable to the coal industry and workers directly employed by coal companies generally earn twice the standard provincial wage.

The BC report comes shortly after a national report produced by PwC called Economic impact analysis of the coal mining industry in Canada, released in late 2012.

PwC surveyed coal companies across Canada to determine the scope of their mining activities as well as their operating and capital expenditures, salaries and employment information, research and development spending and coal shipments.

This information, along with data from Natural Resources Canada and Statistics Canada, resulted in a unique picture of the coal industry's contribution to the Canadian and BC economies.