Overall, services imports rose 5.6% in the month to $ 11.8 billion, while exports rose 2.7% to $ 11.2 billion.
The increase in trade in services came as the economy continued to reopen, allowing services that had been hampered by public health restrictions to increase their activity.
The increase in trade in services has come as merchandise trade has slowed amid persistent supply chain disruptions.
Total imports of goods fell 3.0% in September to $ 51.1 billion, and exports fell 2.3% to $ 53.0 billion. With the merchandise trade surplus of $ 1.9 billion, the overall trade balance translated into a surplus of $ 1.2 billion in September, up $ 10 million from August.
Statistics Canada noted that the 5.4% increase in imports of commercial services, to $ 8.2 billion in September, was “entirely due to an increase in imports of financial services.”
Travel services activity also jumped in September, with imports rising 17.3% to $ 1.2 billion and exports up 18.4% to $ 1.6 billion in the month. .
“The growth of travel services for both imports and exports has reflected an increase in the number of international travelers following the relaxation of travel and border restrictions linked to Covid-19,†StatsCan said.
Yet despite the recent surge in travel, imports remained 74.2% below their pre-pandemic level, and exports were still down 34.3%, StatsCan said.
On a quarterly basis, services imports increased 8.2% to $ 33.8 billion in the third quarter and exports increased 4.1% to $ 32.8 billion, resulting in a deficit of $ 1.0 billion in the third quarter, compared to a surplus of $ 213 million in the second quarter.
Combined with the $ 4.0 billion surplus in trade in goods in the third quarter, the overall quarterly trade surplus reached $ 3.0 billion, from $ 1.3 billion in the second quarter.