Canada - Imports of Goods





Canada: Imports of Goods

Mnemonic TRIG.ICAN
Unit Mil. CAD, NSA
Adjustments Not Seasonally Adjusted
Monthly 1.27 %
Data Oct 2023 64,469
Sep 2023 63,658

Series Information

Source Statistics Canada
Release Canadian International Merchandise Trade (Balance of payments basis, Customs basis) (CANSIM)
Frequency Monthly
Start Date 1/31/1988
End Date 10/31/2023

Canada: Trade

Reference Last Previous Units Frequency
Balance of Goods 2023 Q4 3,007 441 Mil. CAD, SA Quarterly
Current Account Balance 2023 Q4 -1,618 -4,742 Mil. CAD, SA Quarterly
Exports of Goods and Services 2023 Q4 987,588 971,352 Mil. CAD, SAAR Quarterly
Imports of Goods and Services 2023 Q4 982,624 979,248 Mil. CAD, SAAR Quarterly
Net Exports 2023 Q4 4,964 -7,896 Mil. CAD, SAAR Quarterly
Real Exports of Goods and Services 2023 Q4 735,957 726,023 Mil. Ch. 2017 CAD, SAAR Quarterly
Real Imports of Goods and Services 2023 Q4 794,014 797,414 Mil. Ch. 2017 CAD, SAAR Quarterly
Real Net Exports 2023 Q4 -58,057 -71,391 Mil. Ch. 2017 CAD, SAAR Quarterly
Exports of Goods Oct 2023 67,654 64,224 Mil. CAD, NSA Monthly
Imports of Goods Oct 2023 64,469 63,658 Mil. CAD, NSA Monthly

Release Information

For Canada, international merchandise trade; on a balance of payments or customs basis; by country or product. Monthly from 1988.

Active:

  • National accounts framework: CSNA 2012
  • Classification: NAPCS 2022
  • Measurements:
    • Millions of Canadian dollars at chained year-2017 prices (Mil. Ch. 2017 CAD)
    • At current prices (Mil. CAD)
  • Adjustments:
    • Seasonally adjusted (SA)
    • Not seasonally adjusted (NSA)
  • Native frequency: Monthly
  • Start dates:
    • 1988m1
    • 1997m1
    • 2017m1

Predecessors:

  • NAPCS 2017 - 1988 to 2023 ("_I17")
  • NAPCS 2007 - 1988 to 2018 ("_I07")
  • CSNA 2012, at 2012 prices ("_12")
  • At 2007 prices ("_07")
  • CSNA 1997, at 2002 prices ("12")

The source writes:

The following dataset consists of numerous indicators for Canadian international merchandise trade. Data is reported in a Customs Basis format, as well as a Balance of Payments Basis.

Customs Basis measures the change in the stock of material resources of the country resulting from the physical movement of merchandise into or out of Canada. When goods are imported or exported from Canada, declarations must be filed with the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA or Customs) such information as description and value of goods, origin and port of clearance of commodities and mode of transport.

Balance of Payments (BOP) Basis - Customs basis information is adjusted to conform with the Canadian System of National Accounts concepts and definitions so as to cover all economic transactions between residents and non-residents which involve merchandise trade.

Differences - On a BOP basis, transactions are defined in terms of ownership change (i.e., BOP trade can sometimes occur completely within or outside of Canada). On a Customs basis, a transaction occurs when a good crosses the border. Other major differences involve the country of attribution for imports (BOP is country of shipment; Customs is country of origin) and valuation (most notably: freight for BOP purposes is moved out of merchandise trade and into transportation services).

BOP adjustments to Customs data are frequently carried out at aggregate levels (both for commodity and country groupings), making the direct relationship of detailed customs data to the BOP data difficult where possible at all. BOP data are available for just over 60 commodity groups and their aggregates at the national level and at the "all commodity" level for six geographical groups, i.e, United States, United Kingdom, Other European Economic Communities, Japan, other countries from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and other countries.

Statistical activity

The Canadian System of National Accounts (CSNA) provides a conceptually integrated framework of statistics and analysis for studying the state and behaviour of the Canadian economy. The accounts are centered on the measurement of activities associated with production of goods and services, the sales of goods and services in final markets, the supporting financial transactions, and the resulting wealth positions.

Reference period: Month

Collection period: Calendar month

Subjects

  • Balance of international payments
  • Economic accounts
  • International trade
  • Merchandise exports
  • Merchandise imports

Methodology

  • Target population
  • Sampling
  • Data sources
  • Estimation
  • Quality evaluation
  • Revisions and seasonal adjustment

Target population

Imports and exports of merchandise goods into and out of Canada

Sampling

This survey is a census.

Data sources

Data were collected from other Statistics Canada surveys and/or other sources.

Data on Canadian merchandise trade are obtained on a Customs basis from the Canadian International Merchandise Trade (Customs Basis) - Statistical Program # 2201.

Estimation

The Customs basis data are aggregated by commodity and country grouping, and pertinent adjustments are made to convert them to the Balance of Payments basis. Balance of Payments Division provides some of these adjustments to International Trade Division.

Overall, the adjustments on exports are more numerous and sizeable than on imports and the largest adjustment for both exports and imports arises from ensuring appropriate inclusion of inland freight to the border.

Quality evaluation

Transaction-level data are aggregated and subjected to month over month and year over year analysis to detect errors and explain observed movements.

For Customs Basis data: Merchandise trade data are revised on an ongoing basis for each month of the current year. The previous year's data are revised with the release of the January and February reference months as well as on a quarterly basis. The previous two years of Customs based data are revised annually and are released in February with the December reference month.

For Balance of Payments data: The previous year's data are revised with the release of the January, February, March and April reference months. To remain consistent with the Canadian System of Macroeconomic Accounts, revisions to data for previous years are released annually in December with the October reference month.

  • Sep 2005 - Initial version.
  • Dec 2014 - Addendum.
  • Jun 2016 - Addendum of NAPCS product and BOP valuation.
  • Feb 2017 - Advanced classification to NAPCS 2017, currency reference year to 2012.
  • 13 Dec 2023, Phillip Thorne - Advanced classification to NAPCS 2022: Properties, Further reading.