Exports of Goods and Services

Source: Statistics Canada, CANSIM using CHASS, v498728 Canada; Current prices (Dollars); Seasonally adjusted at annual rates; Exports of goods and services.

This recession was a major shock to the Canadian economy, and we can see that quarterly exports of goods and services dropped nearly $200 Billion. The constant annual growth rate of exports from the end of 1971 to the end of 2009 increased by 8.58% (including the huge drop in exports during the recession). If we exclude the recession the constant annual growth rate of exports from the end of 1971 to the end of 2006 grew at a rate of 9.9%. We can also notice the effect of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA of 1989) after a couple years of lag time where businesses realigned to compete in a bigger market, exports took off at a faster pace. We can also notice the increased volatility of quarterly exports starting around the beginning of 2000 until today.