Canada's monthly international trade in services deficit widened from $0.6 billion in January to $0.7 billion in February. Overall, exports of services declined 1.6% to $17.7 billion, while imports of services were down 0.8% to $18.3 billion.
Exports of transportation services declined 7.7% to $1.9 billion in February, largely due to lower receipts of passenger fares. Exports of commercial services (-0.5%) and travel services (-1.3%) also recorded decreases.
Imports of commercial services decreased 2.0% to $10.0 billion in February, following an increase of 2.5% in January. Both the increase in January and the decrease in February were largely due to imports of financial services. Imports of travel services (+0.4%) rose slightly in February, as lower spending by Canadian-resident travellers in the United States was more than offset by higher spending by Canadian-resident travellers in non-US countries. The lower spending in the United States occurred as the number of Canadian-resident return trips from the United States recorded a steep decline on a year-over-year basis.
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