Canadian international trade in services, October 2022
Released: 2022-12-06
$13.9 billion
October 2022
1.6% 
(monthly change)
$15.8 billion
October 2022
2.0%
(monthly change)
-$1.9 billion
October 2022
$80.9 billion
October 2022
1.5%
(monthly change)
$81.7 billion
October 2022
0.9%
(monthly change)
-$0.7 billion
October 2022
Canada's monthly international trade in services deficit widened from $1.8 billion in September to $1.9 billion in October. Overall, imports of services increased by 2.0% to $15.8 billion, and exports were up by 1.6% to $13.9 billion. October 2022 marked the first time that total imports of services exceeded their February 2020 level, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Total exports have been higher than their February 2020 level since early 2022.
To explore the most recent results of Canada's international trade in services in an interactive format, see the International trade monthly interactive dashboard.
Chart 1
International trade in services
Imports of transportation services rose by 6.2% to $3.2 billion in October 2022, largely because of higher payments related to the marine transport of goods. Exports of transportation services were up by 1.4% to $1.7 billion in October, mainly on higher receipts related to the transport of passengers by air.
Imports of travel services increased by 2.9% to $3.4 billion in October on stronger expenditures by Canadian residents at both United States and overseas destinations. Exports of travel services rose by 4.4% to $2.9 billion. These increases coincided with the discontinuation of COVID-19 border restrictions. On October 1, all COVID-19 border restrictions, including vaccination, mandatory use of the ArriveCAN app, and any testing and quarantine requirements, were removed for all travellers entering Canada.
Imports of commercial services were up by 0.4% to $9.1 billion in October, while exports of commercial services increased by 0.8% to $9.2 billion.
Chart 2
International trade in services, imports
Chart 3
International trade in services, exports
Chart 4
International trade in services, balances
In October, total exports of goods increased by 1.5% to $67.0 billion, and total imports of goods were up by 0.6% to $65.8 billion, resulting in a surplus of $1.2 billion. Combined, the trade balance for goods and services amounted to a deficit of $726 million, compared with a deficit of $1.2 billion in September.
Chart 5
International trade in goods and services, October 2022
The services trade deficit in September, originally reported at $1.6 billion in the previous release, was revised to $1.8 billion with the release of this month's publication. The revisions to September's trade deficit resulted from a reduction to the commercial services surplus that more than offset a reduction to the travel services deficit.
Note to readers
Revisions
This release incorporates statistical revisions back to January 2019 as part of the annual revision exercise of the Canadian System of Macroeconomic Accounts that were first published with the balance of payments release for the third quarter of 2022. At the total level, exports and imports of services were revised upward for almost all months from 2019 to 2022.
The revisions mainly reflect the integration of new benchmark survey data and updates resulting from the integration of trade data in the broader analytical context of the supply-use tables. In addition, the coverage of enterprises in the digital economy continued to be enhanced, as was the coverage of imports of digital products and services. For more information, consult the latest release on Annual international trade in services, 2021.
COVID-19 and additional data sources
Circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic pose issues for the production of monthly international trade in services statistics, particularly for travel and transportation services.
To better capture the effects of the pandemic, Statistics Canada is incorporating data from the Canada Border Services Agency's primary inspection kiosks into its monthly international trade-in-services program. These are electronic customs declaration kiosks that have been installed in most major Canadian airports. While these data represent only a subset of total travellers, they provide relevant and timely insights.
Further information on the estimation methodology is available upon request.
Next release
Data on Canadian international trade in services for November 2022 will be released on January 5, 2023.
Products
The updated Canada and the World Statistics Hub(13-609-X) is available online. It illustrates the nature and extent of Canada's economic and financial relationship with the world using interactive charts and tables. This product provides easy access to information on trade, investment, employment and travel between Canada and a number of countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Mexico, China, Japan, Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, and Spain.
The Methodological Guide: Canadian System of Macroeconomic Accounts (13-607-X) is available.
The User Guide: Canadian System of Macroeconomic Accounts (13-606-G) is also available. This publication will be updated to maintain its relevance.
Contact information
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).
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