Internal trade, sectoral output and gross domestic product, 2022

Released: 2026-01-15

Canadian industries differ markedly in the extent to which they engage in internal trade, exchanging goods and services across provincial and territorial borders. Using indices derived from Statistics Canada's recently released 2022 provincial input–output tables, specifically the ratio of internal trade to industry output and the ratio of internal trade to gross domestic product (GDP), analysis shows that some industries are highly reliant on internal trade, accounting for up to two-thirds of their output. In contrast, other industries exhibit minimal dependence on internal trade (Table 36-10-0712-01).

Manufacturing continues to account for about one-third of internal trade

The manufacturing industry continued to play a pivotal role in Canada's internal trade in 2022. The industry contributed 31.8% of total trade between provinces and territories, down slightly from 33.5% in 2021 (Chart 1).

In 2022, other major contributors to internal trade included mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction (13.1%), finance, insurance, real estate, rental, leasing and holding companies (11.4%) and wholesale trade (10.2%). Each of these industries represented over one-tenth of internal trade, a pattern that has not changed from 2021 (Chart 1).

Together, professional, scientific, and technical services (9.1%), transportation and warehousing (8.0%) and information and cultural industries (4.5%) accounted for over one-fifth of internal trade in 2022 (Chart 1).

Chart 1 
Contribution to internal trade by industry, 2021 and 2022

Chart 2 
Contribution to internal trade by industry, 2022

Dependency on internal trade varies across industries

At the detailed industry level, tobacco and cannabis product manufacturing was the most dependent on internal trade in 2022, with 68.6% of its output sold to other provinces and territories. Several other industries also showed strong integration across the Canadian economy. Dairy product manufacturing (51.8%), soft drink and ice manufacturing (49.9%) and pay and specialty television (44.0%) all directed substantial portions of their output or services to interprovincial markets (Table 1).

Internal trade intensity does not correspond to gross domestic product contribution

While some industries rely heavily on internal trade relative to their own production, their shares of GDP associated with internal trade remain relatively modest. For instance, in 2022, even though dairy product manufacturing and soft drink and ice manufacturing had high interprovincial trade-to-output ratios, their interprovincial trade represented small shares of GDP (0.4% for dairy product manufacturing and 0.1% for soft drink and ice manufacturing), reflecting the relatively small size of these industries within the overall economy (Table 2).

By contrast, in 2022, some industries with lower interprovincial trade-to-output ratio were associated with larger shares of GDP. Oil and gas extraction (excluding oil sands), for example, had a moderate interprovincial trade-to-output ratio of 27.7%, while its interprovincial trade represented 1.2% of GDP, reflecting the large scale of this industry. Similarly, computer systems design and related services had a lower interprovincial trade-to-output ratio of 24.5%, yet its interprovincial trade corresponded to 0.8% of GDP, highlighting the importance of this rapidly growing sector within the economy (Table 2).

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).