StatCan will delay trade data reporting amid U.S. shutdown

Statistics Canada says it will delay publishing international trade data because of the government shutdown in the United States.

The agency says it relies on data from the U.S. Census Bureau to track Canadian export volumes but hasn’t received any of that information since the U.S. government shutdown over a funding impasse in Congress at the start of October.

As a result, StatCan says it won’t be able to publish Canadian export and import data for the month of September as planned on Nov. 4.

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The agency says it won’t be able to report monthly international trade results until the government shutdown ends, but the statistics bureau might have to consider other options if the disruption persists for an extended period of time.

Other key figures such as quarterly gross domestic product by expenditure  and balance of international payments rely on inputs from the monthly trade figures.

StatCan says it will put together special estimates of Canadian exports to the United States if the shutdown isn’t resolved in time to publish third-quarter GDP data at the end of November, but the agency warns these projections would be subject to larger revisions than normal.