A 15.6% increase in exports to countries outside the United States is helping the Canadian economy remain resilient even as exports to the U.S. drop.
New Statistics Canada data show Canadian merchandise exports rose 2.1% in October, hitting 65.6 billion. Imports rose by 3.4% to $66.2 billion, leaving Canada with a trade deficit of $583 million, compared to a $243 million surplus in September.
Exports of metal and non-metallic mineral products rose 27.3% after a 25.0% in increase in September, and are now at a record high. Much of the surge is due to a 47.4% increase in unwrought gold exports, which have more than doubled in the last year, due to both higher gold prices and a nearly 40% increase in sales volumes.
Motor vehicle exports also rose, with a 3.2% increase in exports of passenger cars and light trucks, and a 24.7% increase in exports of heavy trucks, buses, and other motor vehicles. Overall, motor vehicle exports rose 4.1% in October.
Partially offsetting these increases was an 8.4% drop in energy exports.
Canada is successfully diversifying its trading relationships
Canada’s overall rise in exports came despite a 3.4% drop in exports to the United States. Exports to the U.S. were down 4.1% in the first 10 months of 2025, and the trade surplus with the U.S. dropped from $8.4 billion to $4.8 billion between September and October.
At the same time, exports to non-U.S. countries rose by 15.6% after an 11.8% increase in September, and have now hit a new record high. Gold exports to the United Kingdom and oil exports to China were the key drivers of this growth. Our trade deficit with non-US countries declined from $8.1 billion in September to $5.4 billion in October.
This is evidence that Canada’s effort to deepen trade ties with other countries to reduce our reliance on the U.S. is succeeding, providing an important buffer for the economy even as trade with the U.S. contracts.
Spencer Fernando
If you would like to support my work, you can contribute through PayPal at the button below:
Alternatively, if you would like to support my work on an ongoing basis and gain access to exclusive content, you can subscribe for $6 a month or $72 a year.
Subscribe here.
If this piece left you clearer than it found you, that's the point. I write for readers who want to think past the week, to see the longer pattern beneath the daily story, and to come away steadier rather than more agitated.
I can write this way because my work answers to no one but you. No subsidies, no strings.
The deeper pieces, where I work things through at the length the daily writing doesn't allow, live on Patreon. $20/month or $216/year.