Lesson 17 — Activity 2: International Trade

As a country, Canada relies on trading with other countries. In the last lesson, you learned how Canada and the United States do business. Now let's look at some other countries that Canada trades with and learn about imports and exports.

Canada has always been and always will be a trading nation. Today Canadians are expanding abroad more than ever before. Half of what we manufacture in Canada is exported, and a fifth of all Canadian jobs are directly linked to international trade.

Due to increasing technology and competitive markets, international trade is doing really well. Even though some countries are a great distance apart, they can still trade and communicate because the world is a global village. Canadian goods also find their way to other parts of the world. Canada trades with many different countries. To stay on top of our economy, Canada has to continue to trade internationally like we are doing now.

Canada relies on trade with other countries in the world. Many items are imported and exported to and from Canada. Let's find out more about what it means to import and export goods between countries.

Perhaps you once traded your lunch for someone else's lunch because you wanted that person's apple rather than your orange. Perhaps you thought her sandwich with peanut butter and banana would taste better than yours would with ham and cheese.

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The history of trade goes back to the first interactions between families or tribes. Trade is as old as humanity! Because there was no such thing as money at that time, the earliest trade was barter under which food, items, and sometimes people were exchanged.

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Imports and exports are two main words that refer to trade. Canada is a country that depends on international trade. Trade occurs in two ways: Canada imports goods when it buys from other countries, and it exports goods when it sells to other countries.

How is this done? You previously learned that Canada produces more than it needs.

These factors mean that Canada has and produces much more than it needs for its own use. You might ask, "Why doesn't Canada just keep its resources for its own use, especially natural resources that are non-renewable?" The answer is very simple. Canada needs money to buy from other countries what we do not or cannot produce ourselves.

Canadians cannot grow food year round, so we depend on food grown in warmer countries for many months of the year. Tropical fruits such as bananas cannot be grown in Canada, so they need to be imported from other countries such as Central or South America.

@istock

Because of our small population, our labour force is too small to sustain massive industrial development. This means that it is not economical to produce in Canada many of the goods that Canadians want or need. Canada has an excess of agricultural goods and natural resources that it sells to other nations. The money made from the sale of these goods is used to buy what we do not produce ourselves.

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Not all our manufactured goods come from other countries. In fact, Canada does have a well-established manufacturing base and exports these products, especially some highly specialized ones.

Do you know that a Canadian company called Bombardier builds trains and jet planes, both of which are sold to various countries? It also builds Ski-Doos and Sea-Doos!

@creativecommons

         

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Canadarm

         

You have probably heard of the Canadarm that is very important to space exploration.

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Self-check!