View the most recent version.Information identified as archived is provided for reference, research or recordkeeping purposes. It is not subject to the Government of Canada Web Standards and has not been altered or updated since it was archived. Please "contact us" to request a format other than those available.
| Version française |
Thursday, April 17, 1997
For release at 8:30 a.m.
February 1997
After moving ahead 2.8% in January, exports posted a smaller gain in February, rising 0.6% to $23.6 billion. Increased sales of machinery and forestry products helped keep exports buoyant, while declines were posted for most other sectors. Export growth reflected strengthening sales to the United States, Europe, and Asia - with the exception of Japan.
Imports held steady at $21.4 billion in February, following a gain of 7.5% in January. A drop in energy product purchases was all but offset by continued strength in industrial goods and consumer imports. Although there were gains from the United States and Japan, imports from all other trading partners slipped.
The slight increase posted for exports helped boost the trade surplus to $2.2 billion in February from $2.0 billion in January. After falling sharply in October, the trade surplus remained below its average level of 1996.
Machinery exports were up a robust 5.1% in February, more than recovering from declines in the previous two months. Gains were widespread, from transportation equipment to office machines, thanks mainly to stronger markets overseas. Although aircraft shipments contracted for a third consecutive month, a bevy of new orders (especially in January) bodes well for aerospace exports in the months ahead.
In forestry exports, a gain of 6.4% - the largest increase since July of 1996 - countered the slightly negative trend that had prevailed since September. At the heart of the upturn was an increase in lumber sales to the United States, where unseasonably mild weather prompted a flurry of home building activity. Gains were also registered for exports of wood pulp, newsprint and other paper and paperboard.
Chart: Exports, imports and trade balance
In addition to building more homes, confident American consumers spent more on clothing and general merchandise in February, helping push sales of Canadian consumer goods ahead for a second consecutive month (+3.6%).
Merchandise trade is one component of the current account of Canada's balance of payments, which also includes trade in services. In the fourth quarter of 1996, the overall merchandise trade surplus of $7.2 billion contrasted with a current account deficit of $1.7 billion.
Offsetting much of the export gain were reduced shipments of industrial goods (-3.6%), energy products (-3.4%), and food (-2.6%). After a strong showing in January, industrial goods declined on weaker exports of metal ores, chemicals, and precious metals; by contrast, fertilizer sales shot up in response to a higher farm demand in the United States. Crude oil and natural gas sales slowed in the month, reflecting in part the warmer-than-normal conditions in the United States - both milder weather and rising world stocks were factors in bringing down the price of crude from earlier highs.
In automotive exports (-0.3%), increased shipments of light trucks - mostly to the United States - were offset by reduced exports of cars and auto-parts. The drop in these export levels came on the heels of strong gains in the previous month.
Having started the year at an all-time high, energy imports - prone to wide monthly swings - dropped by more than 23% in February. In comparison with a strong run-up in the previous month, purchases of crude oil by most refiners were lukewarm in February. Import demand also eased for refined petroleum products such as fuel oil.
Outside of energy products, declines were marginal; offsetting movements were registered within the automotive product and machinery sectors, but levels for both remained at near-record highs. Imports of complete vehicles rose as domestic sales heated up; meanwhile, reduced production of cars helped slow the demand for imported parts. Despite February's pause in growth, the trend for machinery imports since mid-1996 has moved upward, reflecting strength in Canadian business investment.
Continued growth in industrial goods and consumer products helped mitigate import declines in February. Advances for industrial goods, led by refined metals, chemicals and plastics, reflected stronger domestic manufacturing activity. Increased demand for consumer goods reflected the more liberal spending habits.
Merchandise trade data are revised on a continuing basis for every month of the current year. Factors that create the need for revisions include: the late receipt of import and export documentation, incorrect information on customs documents, replacement of estimated figures with actual values once available, changes to classification of merchandise based on more current information, and updated seasonal adjustments. Revised data can be obtained by accessing the relevant CANSIM matrices.
Available on CANSIM: matrices 3611-3616, 3618-3629, 3651, 3685-3713, 3718-3720 and 3887-3913.
This release contains a summary of the merchandise trade data, which will be available shortly in Canadian international merchandise trade (65-001-XPB, $19/$188). The publication will include tables by commodity and country on a customs basis. Current account data, which incorporate merchandise trade statistics, services transactions, investment income and transfers, are available on a quarterly basis in Canada's balance of international payments (67-001-XPB, $38/$124). See How to order publications.
For more timely receipt of the merchandise trade data, a fax service is available on the morning of release.
For further information on this release, contact Suzie Carpentier (613-951-9647; 1-800-294-5583), Marketing and Client Services Section, International Trade Division.
Table: Merchandise trade of Canada
______________________________________________________________________________
Dec. 1996 Jan. 1997 Feb. 1997
______________________________________________________________________________
seasonally adjusted, $ current
_______________________________________________
$ millions
_______________________________________________
Principal trading
partners
Exports
United States 18,750 19,298 19,416
Japan 861 979 939
European Union 1,361 1,146 1,158
Other OECD countries(1) 344 367 315
All other countries 1,475 1,639 1,750
Total 22,791 23,429 23,579
Imports
United States 14,744 16,293 16,361
Japan 578 669 733
European Union 1,940 1,826 1,667
Other OECD countries(1) 767 766 752
All other countries 1,926 1,903 1,881
Total 19,955 21,457 21,394
Balance
United States 4,006 3,005 3,055
Japan 283 310 206
European Union -579 -680 -509
Other OECD countries(1) -423 -399 -437
All other countries -451 -264 -131
Total 2,836 1,972 2,185
Principal commodity
groupings (2)
Exports
Agricultural and
fishing products 1,730 1,850 1,801
Energy products 2,996 2,914 2,815
Forestry products 3,024 2,863 3,046
Industrial goods and
materials 4,006 4,224 4,071
Machinery and equipment 4,942 4,813 5,057
Automotive products 4,869 5,955 5,936
Other consumer goods 688 699 724
Special transactions
trade(3) 914 972 982
Imports
Agricultural and
fishing products 1,239 1,240 1,249
Energy products 857 1,276 981
Forestry products 167 186 190
Industrial goods and
materials 3,956 4,131 4,322
Machinery and equipment 6,583 7,039 6,999
Automotive products 4,135 4,733 4,731
Other consumer goods 2,185 2,262 2,336
Special transactions
trade(3) 584 632 618
______________________________________________________________________________
Dec. 1996 to Jan. 1997 to Jan.-Feb.
Jan. 1997 Feb. 1997 1996
______________________________________________________________________________
seasonally adjusted, $ current
_______________________________________________
% change $ millions
______________________________ _____________
Principal trading
partners
Exports
United States 2.9 0.6 35,161
Japan 13.7 -4.1 1,537
European Union -15.8 1.0 2,810
Other OECD countries(1) 6.7 -14.2 755
All other countries 11.1 6.8 3,372
Total 2.8 0.6 43,635
Imports
United States 10.5 0.4 29,055
Japan 15.7 9.6 1,283
European Union -5.9 -8.7 3,183
Other OECD countries(1) -0.1 -1.8 1,527
All other countries -1.2 -1.2 3,305
Total 7.5 -0.3 38,354
Balance
United States ... ... 6,106
Japan ... ... 254
European Union ... ... -373
Other OECD countries(1) ... ... -772
All other countries ... ... 67
Total ... ... 5,281
Principal commodity
groupings (2)
Exports
Agricultural and
fishing products 6.9 -2.6 3,439
Energy products -2.7 -3.4 4,147
Forestry products -5.3 6.4 6,158
Industrial goods and
materials 5.4 -3.6 7,913
Machinery and equipment -2.6 5.1 9,405
Automotive products 22.3 -0.3 10,917
Other consumer goods 1.6 3.6 1,338
Special transactions
trade(3) 6.3 1.0 1,802
Imports
Agricultural and
fishing products 0.1 0.7 2,276
Energy products 48.9 -23.1 1,530
Forestry products 11.4 2.2 312
Industrial goods and
materials 4.4 4.6 7,480
Machinery and equipment 6.9 -0.6 12,837
Automotive products 14.5 0.0 8,539
Other consumer goods 3.5 3.3 4,285
Special transactions
trade(3) 8.2 -2.2 1,094
______________________________________________________________________________
Jan.-Feb. Jan.-Feb. Feb. 1996 to
1997 1996 to Feb.1997
Jan.-Feb.
1997
______________________________________________________________________________
seasonally adjusted, $ current
_______________________________________________
$ millions % change
_____________ ______________________________
Principal trading
partners
Exports
United States 38,713 10.1 10.6
Japan 1,919 24.9 8.4
European Union 2,304 -18.0 -20.1
Other OECD countries(1) 682 -9.7 -23.4
All other countries 3,389 0.5 9.8
Total 47,007 7.7 7.8
Imports
United States 32,654 12.4 11.0
Japan 1,402 9.3 8.3
European Union 3,494 9.8 4.5
Other OECD countries(1) 1,518 -0.6 -2.5
All other countries 3,783 14.5 13.4
Total 42,851 11.7 10.1
Balance
United States 6,059 ... ...
Japan 517 ... ...
European Union -1,190 ... ...
Other OECD countries(1) -836 ... ...
All other countries -394 ... ...
Total 4,156 ... ...
Principal commodity
groupings (2)
Exports
Agricultural and
fishing products 3,651 6.2 0.3
Energy products 5,729 38.1 34.8
Forestry products 5,909 -4.0 -3.0
Industrial goods and
materials 8,296 4.8 0.5
Machinery and equipment 9,871 5.0 9.7
Automotive products 11,891 8.9 7.3
Other consumer goods 1,422 6.3 7.4
Special transactions
trade(3) 1,954 8.4 6.2
Imports
Agricultural and
fishing products 2,489 9.4 7.8
Energy products 2,257 47.5 20.7
Forestry products 376 20.5 21.0
Industrial goods and
materials 8,453 13.0 14.4
Machinery and equipment 14,039 9.4 7.2
Automotive products 9,464 10.8 10.8
Other consumer goods 4,597 7.3 7.1
Special transactions
trade(3) 1,250 14.3 7.7
______________________________________________________________________________
(...) Figures not appropriate or not applicable.
(1) Includes Australia, Iceland, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland,
Turkey
(2) Figures not adjusted to balance of payments basis.
(3) Mainly: low valued transactions, value of repairs to equipment, goods
returned to country of origin.
1994-95
Information from the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY), developed jointly by Human Resources Development Canada and Statistics Canada, indicates that, on the whole, children aged 4 to 11 were faring well in school in 1994-95. For example, few children were repeating grades, parents were generally involved in their children's education, and serious disciplinary problems were relatively rare in the schools.
However, based on responses from teachers and principals to questionnaires concerning the academic progress of the children, some pupils were encountering problems. For example, 1 in 10 children received some form of remedial education during 1994-95. In comparison, about 7% were in some type of education program for gifted children.
About half of the children enrolled in remedial education were there because of a learning disability, while another one-quarter had an emotional or a behavioural problem.
Children's participation in special education programs appears related to the socio-economic status of their family.
For example, children from families with the lowest socio-economic status were three times as likely as children from families in the highest socio-economic group to be in some form of remedial education program. Conversely, children from families with the highest socio-economic status were twice as likely to be in gifted education programs.
Similar patterns across socio-economic status groups were evident in teachers' assessments of how well the children were doing in various subjects and in the results of a mathematics computation test, though there was still a wide range of assessments and test results within each socio-economic status group.
An overall indicator of socio-economic status was constructed by combining family income, and the occupation and education of the parents. Children whose families were in the top 20% of socio-economic status scores were considered to be in the highest group. Those in the bottom 20% were in the lowest group.
More study is required to determine the significance of these results. Further analysis of data from the various components of the NLSCY and from future survey cycles will enable researchers and policy analysts to illuminate the nature of these relationships.
Today, Statistics Canada releases initial results from the school component of the first cycle of the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY). The NLSCY, conducted by Statistics Canada in collaboration with Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC), is a comprehensive survey examining a variety of important factors thought to influence child development.
In 1994-95, the NLSCY collected information on nearly 23,000 children in Canada ranging in age from birth to 11 years. The survey will collect information on these children every two years as they progress into youth and then adulthood.
Data from the school component of the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth are now available. This component collected information about children aged 4 to 11 from the teachers and principals for the 1994-95 school year. Data from teachers are available for 7,000 of the 12,500 eligible school-aged children. Similarly, principals provided information for 6,900 of the children in the NLSCY. When combined with information from other components of the survey, these data form a rich source for conducting research on issues related to education and child development. Other components of the survey covered household interviews, mathematics and vocabulary tests, and the questionnaire that older children completed themselves.
The NLSCY includes a measure of socio-economic status (SES) that combines family income, parents' occupation and parents' education. For purposes of analysis, children were divided into five equally sized groups (or quintiles) according to their family's SES ranking. Children whose families were in the top 20% of SES scores were considered to be from the highest SES families, while those in the bottom 20% were from families with the lowest SES.
Subsequent cycles of the NLSCY will provide greater insight into the early results on schooling presented here. This will allow for longitudinal analysis of these issues.
A collection of analyses based on several components of the NLSCY (including the household interview, a mathematics computation test and a vocabulary test) was released in the fall of 1996 in the joint Statistics Canada/HRDC publication, Growing up in Canada (89-550-MPE).
Teachers reported that only a small proportion of children in the NLSCY had repeated a grade. Less than 2% of children had repeated their last grade and only about 4% had repeated any grade during their schooling so far.
While infrequent among all students, repeating of grades occurred more often in the earlier school years (Grades 1 to 3) than in Grades 4 to 6.
Again, socio-economic status appeared to be associated with the likelihood of having repeated a grade. For children from families with the lowest socio-economic status, the average rate of having repeated any grade was about twice as high as that for children overall.
The children's teachers were asked to rate the extent to which a variety of resources met the needs of their classes. For most types of materials and equipment, teachers felt that the resources in their classrooms adequately or completely met their needs. A majority of teachers, however, reported that computers, software and science equipment did not meet their instructional needs. Specifically, only 4 in 10 teachers stated that computers adequately or completely met their course instruction needs. Similarly, just over a third (36%) felt that computer software for course instruction was adequate. Fewer than half of all teachers (48%) deemed science equipment in the classroom to be adequate.
Given the importance of science and technology in today's society, these findings suggests that some children may not have access to certain relevant learning tools.
A public use microdata file based on the school component of the initial cycle of the NLSCY will be available later this year. A background document outlining some initial results from the NLSCY's school component is available. Those unable to access the background document electronically can obtain copies by contacting Media Relations (613-951-4636).
For further information on this release, contact Patrice de Broucker (613-951-3999; fax: 613-951-9040; Internet: debrpat@statcan.gc.ca), Centre for Education Studies, Statistics Canada, or Allen Zeesman (819-994-3039), Applied Research Branch, Human Resources Development Canada.
1995
Capital expenditures on construction in Canada totalled $76.4 billion in 1995, down 6% from 1994. This decline is due to a decrease of $5.3 billion in building construction while expenditures on engineering construction remained at almost the same level.
In 1995, residential construction totalled $29.2 billion, the lowest level since 1986. This represents a drop of 16% from 1994 for the residential sector, which was mainly responsible for the the decrease in building construction. This decline was observed across Canada (mostly in Ontario and Quebec) with the exception of Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories.
The gain of $0.2 billion in engineering construction was mostly due to increased manufacturing investment in pollution abatement and control (+$0.2 billion), government spending on highways, roads and streets (+$0.2 billion) and mining expenditures on exploration drilling (+$0.2 billion). The gain was partly offset by a large decline of electric power engineering construction (which affected primarily Quebec) and a substantial decrease of investments in natural gas processing plants absorbed by British Columbia (-$0.2 billion) and Alberta (-$0.2 billion).
Capital outlays for machinery and equipment in Canada totalled $51.4 billion in 1995, an increase of $2.7 billion from 1994. This increase was attributable to higher expenditures in processing equipment (+$1.8 billion), transportation equipment (+$0.6 billion) and other machinery and equipment (+$0.4 billion) while spending on communication and office equipment decreased slightly. Ontario accounted for 69% of the increase.
The increased expenditure on processing equipment was in large part due to the manufacturing industry, which raised its capital spending on conventional processing equipment by $1.2 billion.
Higher investment on transportation equipment was largely attributable to an increase of $0.9 billion in spending on automobiles. The finance and insurance industry and the other services industry accounted for 89% of the increase in spending on automobiles, probably for leasing purposes.
Capital outlays for computers went from $5.4 billion in 1992 to $6.8 billion in 1995, an increase of 25%. Over the same period, the finance and insurance industry (+69%) and the communication and other utility industry (+59%) increased their expenditures on computers.
Available on CANSIM: matrices 3150-3155.
Capital expenditures by type of asset, 1995 (61-223-XPB, $42) will be available shortly. See How to order publications.
For further information on this release, contact Gilbert Paquette (613-951-9818; 1-800-571-0494; Internet: gilbert@statcan.gc.ca). For analytical information, contact Mychèle Gagnon (613-951-2593; Internet: gagnmyc@statcan.gc.ca), Investment and Capital Stock Division.
February 1997
Current- and fixed-weighted export and import price indexes (1986=100) on a balance-of-payments basis are now available. Price indexes are listed from January 1986 to February 1997 for the five commodity sections and the major commodity groups (62 exports and 61 imports).
Current- and fixed-weighted U.S. price indexes (1986=100) are also available on a customs basis. Price indexes are listed from January 1986 to February 1997. Included with the U.S. commodity indexes are the 10 all-countries and U.S.-only standard international trade classification section indexes.
Indexes for the five commodity sections and the major commodity groups are also now available on a customs basis.
Available on CANSIM: matrices 3611-3616, 3618-3629, 3651 and 3685.
The February 1997 issue of Canadian international merchandise trade (65-001-XPB, $19/$188) will be available shortly. See How to order publications.
For further information on this release, contact Denis Pilon (613-951-4808), Price Index Unit, International Trade Division.
Week ending April 12, 1997 (preliminary)
Steel primary forms production for the week ending April 12, 1997, totalled 292 939 tonnes, down 5.3% from the week-earlier 309 297 tonnes and up 2.0% from the year-earlier 287 332 tonnes. The cumulative total at the end of the week was 4 127 308 tonnes, a 0.1% increase compared with 4 122 597 tonnes for the same period in 1996.
For further information on this release, contact Greg Milsom (613-951-9827; Internet: milsomg@statcan.gc.ca), Manufacturing, Construction and Energy Division.
April 1, 1997 (preliminary)
April 1, 1997, stocks of frozen poultry meat in cold storage are now available.
Available on CANSIM: matrices 5675-5677.
For further information on this release, contact Sandra Jarrett (613-951-3847; Internet: jarrsan@statcan.gc.ca), Livestock and Animal Products Section, Agriculture Division.
October 1996
The inter-city indexes of retail price differentials for selected consumer goods and services for October 1996 are now available.
For further information on this release, contact the Client Services Unit (613-951-9606), Prices Division.
1995
The Annual Survey of Manufactures provides information on over 200 different industries. Principal statistics for each industry will be released as they become available. Data for the industries listed in the following table are now available.
As of today, principal statistics, at the national level, are available for 232 industries.
Available on CANSIM: matrices 5376, 5383, 5438, 5536, 5539, 5546, 5564 and 6892.
Data for the industries listed in the table will appear in Food industries (32-250-XPB, $40), Textile products industries (34-251-XPB, $40), Fabricated metal products industries (41-251-XPB, $40), Machinery industries (except electrical machinery) (42-250-XPB, $40), Transportation equipment industries (42-251-XPB, $40) and Other manufacturing industries (47-250-XPB, $40). The publications will be released at a later date. See How to order publications.
For further information, look under Contact in the following table (fax: 613-951-9499; Internet: desrosi@statcan.gc.ca).
Table: Value of shipments
______________________________________________________________________________
1994 1995 1994 to 1995
______________________________________________________________________________
$ millions % change
______________________________ _____________
Industry (SIC)
Canned and preserved
fruit and vegetable
(1031) 2,416.5 2,534.9 4.9
Other textile products
including tire cord
fabric (1998) 596.1 692.5 16.2
Machine shop (3081) 1,845.8 2,295.0 24.3
Other metal
fabricating, not
elsewhere classified
(3099) 1,402.7 1,727.0 23.1
Turbine and mechanical
power (3194) 1,265.9 1,300.8 2.8
Shipbuilding and
repair (3271) 976.3 970.3 -0.6
Jewellery and precious
metals (3920) 551.2 486.9 -11.7
Sign and display (3971) 617.1 662.6 7.4
______________________________________________________________________________
Catalogue Contact (613)
number
______________________________________________________________________________
Industry (SIC)
Canned and preserved
fruit and vegetable
(1031) 32-250-XPB P. Zylstra 951-3511
Other textile products
including tire cord
fabric (1998) 34-251-XPB N. Charron 951-3510
Machine shop (3081) 41-251-XPB D. Higgins 951-9837
Other metal
fabricating, not
elsewhere classified
(3099) 41-251-XPB D. Higgins 951-9837
Turbine and mechanical
power (3194) 42-250-XPB J. Hosein 951-5704
Shipbuilding and
repair (3271) 42-251-XPB A. Shinnan 951-3515
Jewellery and precious
metals (3920) 47-250-XPB S. O'Brien 951-3514
Sign and display (3971) 47-250-XPB S. O'Brien 951-3514
______________________________________________________________________________
April 1997
The April issue of Statistics Canada's flagship publication for economic statistics, Canadian economic observer, analyses the current economic conditions, summarizes the major economic events that occurred in March and presents a feature article reviewing major economic trends in 1996. A separate statistical summary contains a wide range of tables and graphs on the principal economic indicators for Canada, the provinces and the major industrial nations.
The April 1997 issue of Canadian economic observer (11-010-XPB, $23/$227) is now available. See How to order publications. For further information, contact Cyndi Bloskie (613-951-3634; Internet: ceo@statcan.gc.ca), Current Economic Analysis Group.
Canadian economic observer, April 1997
Catalogue number 11-010-XPB
(Canada: $23/$227; United States: US$23/US$227; other countries:
US$23/US$227).
Metal mines, 1995
Catalogue number 26-223-XPB
(Canada: $29; United States: US$29; other countries: US$29).
Sawmills and planing mills, January 1997
Catalogue number 35-003-XPB
(Canada: $12/$114; United States: US$12/US$114; other countries:
US$12/US$114).
Steel wire and specified wire products,
February 1997
Catalogue number 41-006-XPB
(Canada: $7/$62; United States: US$7/US$62; other countries:
US$7/US$62).
Electric lamps (light bulbs and tubes), January 1997
Catalogue number 43-009-XPB
(Canada: $7/$62; United States: US$7/US$62; other countries:
US$7/US$62).
Refined petroleum products, January 1997
Catalogue number 45-004-XPB
(Canada: $21/$206; United States: US$21/US$206; other countries:
US$21/US$206).
Oil pipeline transport, January 1997
Catalogue number 55-001-XPB
(Canada: $12/$114; United States: US$12/US$114; other countries:
US$12/US$114).
Industry price indexes, February 1997
Catalogue number 62-011-XPB
(Canada: $22/$217; United States: US$22/US$217; other countries:
US$22/US$217).