Trade has always been Canada's business, and commerce is still what drives its economic growth — Canadians could not sustain their standard of living without trading abroad. Today the country ranks among the ten largest economies in the world and sits in the G8 group of leading industrialized nations.
Free tradeA Trading Nation
Free trade has shaped modern Canada. In 1988, Canada enacted free trade with the United States, and Mexico joined in 1994 under the broader North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). By 2008, NAFTA covered over 444 million people and more than $1 trillion in merchandise trade.
Canada enacts free trade with the United States.
Mexico becomes a partner under NAFTA.
Canada sits among the world's largest economies and is part of the G8 group of leading industrialized countries.
Remember this
- The G8 members: the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, France, Japan, Russia and Canada.
IndustryThree Main Types of Industries
Three main types of industry underpin Canada's economy. Service industries supply thousands of jobs — transportation, education, health care, construction, banking, communications, retail, tourism, government — and now employ more than 75% of working Canadians.
Manufacturing industries turn out goods for sale at home and abroad — paper, high technology equipment, aerospace technology, automobiles, machinery, food and clothing. Natural resource industries — forestry, fishing, agriculture, mining and energy — have mattered greatly to the country's history and development; many regions depend on them still, and resource commodities make up a large share of Canada's exports.
Remember this
- Service industries (over 75% of Canadian jobs).
- Manufacturing industries (paper, aerospace, automobiles, machinery).
- Natural resource industries (forestry, fishing, agriculture, mining, energy).
Largest partnerThe Canada-U.S. Trade Relationship
The United States is Canada's largest international trading partner, and each is the other's biggest — between them the biggest bilateral trading relationship in the world. Over three-quarters of Canadian exports head to the U.S.A., and integrated Canada-U.S. supply chains compete against the rest of the world.
Billions of dollars in energy products, industrial goods, machinery and equipment, automotive, agricultural, fishing and forestry products, and consumer goods leave Canada each year. Millions of Americans and Canadians cross in safety what is traditionally called 'the world's longest undefended border.' At Blaine, Washington, the Peace Arch carries two inscriptions: 'children of a common mother' on one side and 'brethren dwelling together in unity' on the other, a symbol of close ties and common interests.
Now put it to the test
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