Canada’s monthly international trade in services deficit widened from $1.2 billion in June to $1.8 billion in July. Overall, imports of services increased 3.7% to $14.4 billion, while exports edged down 0.1% to $12.7 billion.

Imports of travel services rose 20.5% to $3.1 billion in July, a sixth consecutive monthly increase. The increase in July was primarily due to more Canadians travelling to US destinations. Meanwhile, exports of travel services were up 3.6% from June to $2.3 billion in July. In July, imports (-32.5%) and exports (-3.7%) of travel services remained below their levels in February 2020, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Imports of commercial services were up 2.1% to $8.2 billion in July. Exports of commercial services declined 1.1% to $8.6 billion, on lower exports of financial services.

Imports of transportation services were down 4.9% to $3.0 billion in July, largely due to lower payments related to the marine shipment of goods. Exports of transportation services were essentially unchanged at $1.6 billion.

Meanwhile, total exports of goods declined 2.8% to $68.3 billion in July, and total imports of goods were down 1.8% to $64.2 billion, resulting in a surplus of $4.1 billion. Combined, the trade balance for goods and services amounted to a $2.3 billion surplus in July, a $1.4 billion decline from June.

The services trade deficit in June, originally reported at $1.3 billion in the previous release, was revised down to $1.2 billion with the release of the July 2022 reference month data. Exports of services were revised down by $104 million, mainly due to a downward revision to commercial services. Imports of services were revised down by $155 million, as downward revisions to commercial services and travel services were partially offset by an upward revision to transportation services. The revisions reflected in the July 2022 data are primarily due to the integration of quarterly benchmark data from the balance of payments for the second quarter of 2022, as well as revisions to the data for the first quarter of 2022.

To explore the most recent results of Canada’s international trade in services in an interactive format, see the International trade monthly interactive dashboard.

Source: Statistics Canada