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A majority of Canadians overestimate the contribution the oil sands make to the world’s 11th largest economy, according to a recent poll.

Non-conventional oil production — which comes mostly from mining and steaming bitumen from beneath the soil of northern Alberta — accounts for about 2% of national output, Statistics Canada data show. A majority of Canadians believe the impact is greater, according to a survey conducted by polling company Environics for the environmental group Environmental Defence.

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“We are routinely told our economy will sputter, governments won’t be able to balance budgets, and social services will have to be sacrificed if we don’t triple the [sector’s] size,” Tim Gray, executive director of Environmental Defence, said in a statement.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservative government has called the building of infrastructure to develop natural resource projects a national priority, and said companies plan to invest $650 billion in projects over the next decade.