September 6, 2024

Chart of the Week: Deconstructing Canada’s trade surplus

This week Statistics Canada said Canada ran a small trade deficit in July, meaning our imports of goods and services were greater than our exports. Let’s unpack that a bit. First, the deficit came from our trade in services—things like travel, transportation and commercial services. That’s the typical pattern. With some rare monthly exceptions, Canada typically runs a service trade deficit. The larger category is our trade in goods. Over the last decade, Canada’s monthly trade in goods oscillates between a surplus and deficit. For July, there was a small merchandise trade surplus of $684 million. But that headline masks a lot of variation underneath as shown in our Chart of the Week. Canada’s trade in energy was a surplus of $12.7 billion in July alone, while other categories like motor vehicles and industrial machinery showed a trade deficit.