Canada’s Trade Balance Turns to Deficit in March

Canada’s imports increased by 5.5% in March, while exports leveled up by 0.3%, data by Statistics Canada showed on Tuesday.

Accordingly, the Canadian international merchandise trade balance returned to a deficit position, following two consecutive monthly trade surpluses.

Canada registered a trade deficit of CAD 1.1 billion in March, compared with a CAD 1.4-billion surplus in February.

In the first quarter (Q1) of the year, exports rose by 8.3% to $152.6 billion, reaching their highest value since Q2 of 2019. Meanwhile, quarterly imports edged up 0.5% to $151 billion in Q1 of 2021.

Canada’s merchandise trade balance posted a surplus of $1.5 billion in Q1 of 2021.

This marked the first quarterly trade surplus in Canada since Q4 of 2016.