A SNAPSHOT OF OUR SERIES ON WESTERN CANADA TRADE

In the past month, we’ve been looking at western Canada’s relationship with some of the major global trade blocs.

The volume of the West’s trade with each bloc varies significantly. It comes as no surprise that NAFTA is western Canada’s most important trading relationship – mainly due to our trade with the U.S.

In 2015, western Canada was a net exporter to NAFTA and Mercosur, and a net importer from the Pacific Alliance and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Of the western provinces, B.C. has the highest value of imports from all four trade blocs examined.

NAFTA

Seventy-three per cent of western exports were destined for the North American market in 2015, while 63 per cent of the West’s imports came from NAFTA. B.C. is the western province with the highest volume of both NAFTA exports and imports.

Mercosur

Mercosur is a small trading partner for the West. About 1.4 per cent of western exports flowed to the South American market in 2015. The West received less than one per cent of its of total imports from the bloc. Saskatchewan sent the most exports to Mercosur and B.C. received the most imports.

Pacific Alliance

Of the trade blocs examined in this series, after NAFTA, the West conducts the most trade with the Pacific Alliance. Last year two per cent of western exports were shipped to PA countries, while seven per cent of imports came from that region. Alberta had the highest volume of exports to the Pacific Alliance, and B.C. was the largest importer.

ASEAN

Nearly two per cent of exports were also sent to ASEAN; the southeast Asian nations that make up the bloc provided 4 per cent of the West’s imports. Saskatchewan sent the most exports to ASEAN, while B.C. received the most imports.

Trade_partners_chart_1

Western Canada’s relationship with NAFTA remains critical, with the majority of trade conducted with the U.S. and Mexico. For western businesses looking to diversify outside North America, there are opportunities not just in other countries, but in other, larger markets of global trade blocs. 

This wraps up a four-part series on western Canada’s trading relationship with global trade blocs. Blocs examined were the Pacific Alliance, NAFTA, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Mercosur.

 Naomi Christensen is a policy analyst at the Canada West Foundation