TRANSPORT AND TRADE

A brief, primarily graphic, summary of statistics on the value of Canadian international trade is presented here, by mode of transport. All data are from special tabulations by the International Trade Division of Statistics Canada, for Transport Canada.

Overview

• In 1995, Canada's merchandise trade was valued at $474 billion, with exports valued at $248 billion, and imports valued at $226 billion.
• More than half those goods, by value, were transported by truck.
• The value of merchandise trade increased an average of 14 per cent annually between 1991 and 1995.
• The value of traded goods carried by all main transport modes increased in that period, with the largest absolute increase in trucking and the fastest growth in rail.

Trade by Mode of Transport

• Tables Tr-2, Tr-3, Tr-4 and Tr-5 show, for each mode of transport, the value of trade by the largest categories of merchandise, and the main continents of origin or destination.
• The values shown for truck and rail trade represent goods crossing the Canada-US border, primarily trade with the US, a small amount with Mexico, and some goods originating in or destined for other countries and shipped through US ports.
• For trade by truck, the value of imports was greater than that of exports, with manufactured goods predominant in both directions.
• For trade by rail, the value of exports was about three times the value of imports, with manufactured goods again dominant in both directions, and a striking similarity between exports and imports in the broad categories of goods.
• For trade by sea, the value of exports was slightly higher than that of imports, with primary products dominating exports; nearly three-quarters of the value of trade was with countries of Asia or Western Europe.
• For trade by air, about half was with the US and most of the rest with the industrial nations of Western Europe and Asia, primarily in manufactured goods. The value of imports was nearly double that of exports.

Trade by Geographic Area

• The United States represented nearly 80 per cent of Canada's export market and was the source of 67 per cent of imports (see Figures Tr-1 and Tr-2).
• The value of imports from Asia was higher than those from Western Europe (13 per cent versus 11 per cent - see Figure Tr-2).

International Trade by Canadian Region and Mode

• International trade to and from Ontario accounted for over half the Canadian total.
• As a result of proximity to the US and its large manufacturing base, three-quarters of trade with Ontario was by truck; about 16 per cent was by rail and eight per cent by air.
• Trade by sea was naturally of greater importance to the Atlantic and Pacific regions (see Figure Tr-3).

International Trade in Transportation Services

• Trade in transportation services consists of receipts from other countries for services by Canadian carriers and payments by Canadians for services by carriers from other countries.
• Total trade in these services was $24.5 billion in 1995.
• In that year there was a deficit (i.e., an excess of payments over receipts) of $939 million.
• There have been deficits every year since 1984.
• The deficit in 1995 was confined to marine and air services; land transport services showed a surplus (see Table Tr-6).