Final answer:
Canada has many abundant natural resources such as timber, oil, and minerals, making it challenging to identify the least abundant resource without further context. The least abundant resource may be related to emerging industries outside of Canada's historical resource-based sectors.
Step-by-step explanation:
When discussing the least abundant resource in Canada, it's important to consider various factors including Canada's substantial natural resources, population distribution, and the make-up of their economy. Canada's economy is heavily dependent on the abundant resources such as timber, minerals, coal, oil, and natural gas, which it exports in large quantities. Given the vastness of these resources and Canada's efforts to specialize in commodities like lumber, which it exports due to having a lower opportunity cost, the least abundant resource may be one of the non-traditional commodities that Canada does not produce in large quantities or a resource that has not yet been discovered or utilized due to technological or economic constraints.
However, it is difficult to pinpoint a specific resource as the 'least abundant' without specific data or context, as Canada's resource profile is diverse and continues to change with advancements in resource extraction techniques, market demands, and shifts towards a knowledge-based economy. Also, while some resources might be less prominent in the economy, this doesn't necessarily reflect their physical scarcity, but rather the focus and development of the economy at a given time.