Who Has Been Left Out of Trade’s Benefits?

Trade has played a key role in lifting a billion people out of poverty worldwide over the last few decades. Living standards, in Canada and globally, are far higher than they would have been without international trade in goods and services.

This briefing, the second in a series examining Canada’s inclusive trade, looks at the extent to which specific groups have not been able to take full advantage of trade’s benefits. Among the highlights:

• Small and medium-sized enterprises account for the vast number of businesses and exporters but represent only a small share of the value of Canadian exports.
• Very few Canadian businesses are led by women; and of those, fewer still are export businesses.
• Although many of Canada’s resource exports originate near Indigenous communities, these communities are not seeing many employment or income benefits from modern trade.
• Immigrants’ natural strengths when it comes to trade—such as language, culture, and contacts—are underutilized.