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- Canada’s merchandise exports rose 3.5% in September, while there was little change in imports. As a result, Canada’s trade deficit with the world narrowed to $927 million from $2.0 billion in August.
- Exports rose by $1.0 billion to $30.3 billion in September, as volumes increased 4.5%. Exports which have been on a downward trend since July 2008, reached a low point in May 2009. Since then, exports have increased in three of the past four months.
- Automotive products, industrial goods and materials, and machinery and equipment were the main sources of growth for exports. Energy products mitigated the gains.
- In September, imports edged down 0.1% to $31.2 billion, as volumes fell 0.8%. However, declines in imports in both August and September did not offset a strong gain posted in July 2009.
- Declines occurred in imports of automotive products, machinery and equipment, energy products and agricultural and fishing products. These were mostly offset by a solid gain in imports of industrial goods and materials. If this sector was excluded, total imports would have declined 2.1%.
- Exports to the United States increased 0.5% while imports grew 1.7%. As a result, Canada’s trade surplus with the United States shrank to $2.1 billion in September from $2.3 billion in August.
- Exports to countries other than the United States increased 12.4% and accounted for 88% of the increase in overall exports while imports declined 3.2%. Higher exports to the European Union were largely responsible for the increase in exports. Consequently, Canada’s trade deficit with countries other than the United States narrowed to $3.0 billion in September from $4.3 billion in August.
Note to readers
Merchandise trade is one component of Canada's international balance of payments, which also includes trade in services, investment income, current transfers as well as capital and financial flows.
International merchandise trade data by country are available on both a balance of payments and a customs basis for the United States, Japan and the United Kingdom. Trade data for all other individual countries are available on a customs basis only. Balance of payments data are derived from customs data by making adjustments for characteristics such as valuation, coverage, timing and residency. These adjustments are made to conform to the concepts and definitions of the Canadian System of National Accounts.
Constant dollars referred to in the text are calculated using the Laspeyres volume formula.
Revisions
In general, merchandise trade data are revised on an ongoing basis for each month of the current year. Current year revisions are reflected in both the customs and balance of payments based data. Revisions to customs based data for the previous year are released on a quarterly basis. Revisions to balance of payments based data for the three previous years are released annually in June.
Factors influencing revisions include late receipt of import and export documentation, incorrect information on customs forms, replacement of estimates with actual figures, changes in classification of merchandise based on more current information, and changes to seasonal adjustment factors.
Revised data are available in the appropriate CANSIM tables.
