Analytical uses

Some of the main analytical uses of the SUTs are to construct symmetric input-output tables and input-output models. Symmetric input-output tables convert the product dimension of the SUTs into an industry classification. The symmetric tables allow tracking the impact of an industry’s expenditures on other industries as well as the dependence of each of its revenues on other industries and final uses.

Input-output models are used to study the relationship between final expenditures and industry output, value added and employment levels such as the impacts of exports on domestic output and employment. They are often also used to model the economic impacts of an anticipated change in final expenditures. For example, the input-output model can simulate the impact of a construction project in British Columbia on output, GDP and employment among industries in Alberta and other provinces.

Provincial SUTs enable estimating how open a province or territory is to trade. This measure is defined as the ratio of a region’s total trade (interprovincial imports and exports plus international imports and exports) to the region’s GDP. Table 4 illustrates this measure for 2014.