Advancing manufacturing innovation with robotics

Wisconsin’s Rockwell Automation was already the world’s largest company dedicated to industrial automation before their 2023 acquisition of Ontario-based Clearpath Robotics Inc. Now the firm has proven technology from Canada’s largest robotics and automation cluster to bolster its development of autonomous mobile robots for industrial applications.

Clearpath enhances the OTTO Motors line of self-driving vehicles, increasing efficiency in warehouses and other industrial facilities and helping Rockwell continue to innovate with new tools to meet emerging industrial challenges. A top manufacturing company with customers in more than 100 countries, Rockwell is headquartered in Milwaukee and also operates out of multiple locations across Canada.

Rockwell’s story shows how deep economic ties between the U.S. and Canada help deliver innovations to benefit local industry.

A “critical minerals champion” for the Midwest

In 2025, the Wisconsin subsidiary of Toronto-based GreenLight Metals announced a new partnership with Taconite Drilling LLC to explore the Bend mineral deposit in Taylor County, believed to contain more than 4 million tons of gold and copper. The company will also explore for tellurium, a key ingredient in the production of solar panels. GreenLight has invested more than $8 million into the initial stages of their Wisconsin operation, which aims to cement their position as North America’s “next critical minerals champion.” This Canadian investment creates local jobs, and advances the critical minerals to grow North American manufacturing and competitiveness.

Ensuring energy security in Wisconsin

In 2021, Canadian oil and gas company Cenovus Energy invested in Wisconsin’s only petroleum refinery, located in Superior. The modernized facility, which Cenovus rebuilt with local tradesmen, came back online in 2023. Using the crude oil it takes in from North Dakota and Western Canada, the facility produces a full slate of products including gasoline, diesel, shipping fuel and asphalt. With a 740 million-gallon annual production capacity, the facility employs 250 people, ensuring energy security for Wisconsin and the wider region. Cenovus operates the Duluth Marine Terminal, which serves as the Port of Duluth and Superior’s only marine fueling station, and fuels $27 billion worth of marine cargo every year. This bolsters supply chain resilience for the materials that move through the Port. Cenovus also invests in the community; it supported the Superior Police Department by providing a new K-9 that performs search and rescue, and locates narcotics and illegal weapons. The company also sponsors local firefighters’ refinery safety training programs.

Canadian investments and presence in Wisconsin benefit not only the economy, but local communities as well.

Wisconsin exports $7.5 billion in goods to Canada annually
Wisconsin exports to Canada by industry

• Agriculture: 15%
• Chemicals: 8%
• Equipment & machinery: 35%
• Forest products: 11%
• Minerals & metals: 8%
• Plastics & rubbers: 8%
• Transportation: 8%
• Other: 7%

Top Wisconsin goods exports to Canada

• Plastics & plastic articles: $566 million
• Paper & paperboard: $523 million
• Electric motors & generators: $423 million
• Beverages & alcohol: $231 million
• Motor vehicle parts: $206 million
• Engines & turbines: $188 million
• Iron & steel tubes, pipes & sheets: $181 million
• Optical, medical & precision instruments: $181 million
• Heating, cooling & refrigeration equipment: $168 million
• Books & printed material: $167 million

Wisconsin exports $777 million in services to Canada annually
Top Wisconsin services exports to Canada

• Travel (including for education): $285 million
• Business services: $133 million
• Insurance services: $111 million
• Charges for the use of intellectual property: $106 million
• Financial services: $60 million

Wisconsin imports $5.7 billion in goods from Canada annually
Wisconsin imports from Canada by industry

• Agriculture: 16%
• Chemicals: 6%
• Energy: 7%
• Equipment & machinery: 15%
• Forest products: 21%
• Minerals & metals: 9%
• Plastics & rubbers: 10%
• Transportation: 7%
• Other: 9%

Top Wisconsin goods imports from Canada

• Plastics & plastic articles: $540 million
• Paper & paperboard: $486 million
• Wood pulp: $329 million
• Wood & semi-finished wood products: $220 million
• Natural gas & other gases: $180 million
• Fuel oil: $179 million
• Softwood lumber: $166 million
• Aluminum & aluminum articles: $155 million
• Iron & steel alloys & semi-finished products: $139 million
• Automobiles: $120 million