Good Service is Good Business: How Services Add Value to Canadian Goods Exports

This is the second report in a research series on services in Canada’s global commerce picture. The first report, Spotlight on Services in Canada’s Global Commerce, painted a picture of Canada’s services sold abroad and discussed how businesses can take advantage of global demand.

The current report uses newly available data to quantify and analyze the value that different services add to Canada’s exported goods, and how this value compares with that of five peer nations. The report finds that the share of high-value business services—such as research and development—in Canadian manufactured exports is smaller and slower growing than that of its peers. Several possible reasons for the striking difference are explored in the report.

Once the value of service inputs in manufactured exports has been established, the report reflects on how this deep connection between services and exported products needs to be integrated into the strategies of Canadian companies and policy-makers.