Imports of Toxic Waste

Question

A researcher here is looking for data on the import of Toxic Waste into Canada – I suspect that either dollar value or volume would be good, but probably volume would be preferred (as without a price index, dollar value doesn’t give too much information).
Any ideas? The World Trade Database doesn’t seem to break waste out in this manner …


Answer

I found this on the OECD site: http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/22/59/41878217.xls. See Table 3.

Trade data for sub-provincial geographies

Question

A faculty member here is interested in obtaining international trade flows for South-Western Ontario - does Statistics Canada have these data, and
could a custom tabulation be prepared from them? If not at Statistics Canada, would the CRA collect these (thinking that they might at least have
value of imports by destination and/or exports by origin)? I didn't find sub-provincial geography for trade at Industry Canada either.

I was hoping that the Economic Region would be a sub-provincial level at which data on trade MIGHT be collected.

Answer

Here is the answer we obtained from our contacts in the International Trade Division:

"Unfortunately, trade data by region (i.e., southwestern Ontario) are not available. The lowest level of geography we can provide is Province of
Origin (exports) or Province of Destination (imports). However, custom tabulations could be extracted by Port of Entry/Port of Clearance for the
province of Ontario."

A custom tabulation could be requested if this would be of interest.

Name Change - World Trade Data / Canadian Trade Data

World Trade Data is now called World Trade Analyzer
Canadian Trade Data is now called World Trade Atlas -- Canadian Edition

The content of these products has not changed, only their names have been modified.

Web:
http://www.statcan.ca/english/Dli/Data/Ftp/worldtrade.htm
http://www.statcan.ca/english/Dli/Data/Ftp/cantrade.htm

FTP:
/ftp/dli/trade/world-trade-analyzer
/ftp/dli/trade/world-trade-atlas-canada-edition

Trade by Mode of Transport

Question

A grad student here is attempting to look at international trade. He is interested in looking specifically at trade by mode of transportation - what is the value of material arriving by rail / air / sea / road? He'd like at least twenty data points (twenty years, by preference). He doesn't care about examining particular commodities. CANSIM table 404-0021 would be useful if it covered more countries, more modes of transportation, and a longer time period.

I don't think that the trade statistics that we currently have allow this type of analysis - are there other Statistics Canada data which would capture this information? Should we be checking with some other government department for these data?

Answer

International Trade Division can produce this data, but at a fee only (multiple hundreds of dollars).

The Transportation Division does not have this type of information at the level requested. The student can have a look at our following publications for some information. I have not perused the pubs and doubt it will meet the user's needs - but just an FYI.

Trucking in Canada 53-222
Shipping in Canada 54-205
Rail in Canada 52-216

Looks like the CANSIM table you found may be the closest thing available free of charge.

Trade Data

Question

A prof is asking for the following:

- Canadian exports by country by 2 digit NAICS, for 1988-present, at a quarterly frequency; also similar data but for manufacturing at the 3 digit NAICS level

- Canadian exports at the 4-digit SIC level to the countries of the U.S., U.K., Japan, China, France, Germany, and the
Netherlands (there might be a few more later), from 1985 to the latest possible year as I think SIC data ends in 2002), at an
annual frequency.

I'm at a loss here; the prof said he was referred to me by someone at STC, which suggests that I should have access to what he wants, but I'm not finding anything. Suggestions would be welcomed!

Answer

Although data is not collected at the NAICS level, it is collected at the SCG/HS/CT code level. We do have an excel spreadsheet that offers the correspondence between HS/CT code and NAICS (it is found on the FTP under dli/standard_classifications/ct-naics). Documentation is available to explain it in a little more detail.

The spreadsheet maps to the five or six digit NAICS - not two as requested.

Units of Measure for Trade Data

Question

A UBC researcher recently purchased some Statistics Canada trade data and now has a question about the measurements used. She reports that some of the commodities are measured in kilograms (KGM) and some in kilograms of known substance (KNS). What difference is there between the two (and a third, KSD, kilogram air dry)? Are they all equally kilograms?

I have looked at the customs tariff and related documentation, at multiple sources of trade statistics, and anywhere else I can think of, but can find nothing more than lists of abbreviations and their full names. Can the merchandise trade experts provide definitions for these terms?

Answer

Stats Can does not officially have any definitions of units of measure per se, but did confirm that it is based on the individual commodity.

An example that was provided will drive home this point I believe:

Code 2815200010 Potassium hydroxide (caustic potash), solid (UOM = KG)
Code 2815200020 Potassium hydroxide (caustic potash), in aqueous solution (UOM = KNS)

Commodities which are in liquid form often have UOM as KNS, while solids have UOM as KG. It is very dependant on the commodity, its composition, etc.

Our contact did mention that Canada Border Services have a publication defining all of the codes and some information on their state (solid/liquid) when applicable. You may wish to pursue that option as well.

In short - they are all kilograms, but different UOM are used based on the state of the product (liquid, solid, air dried).

Trade by Industry

Question

A UBC doctoral student is doing research on industries and wants summary information on Canadian bilateral trade with different countries by industry classification, not by the usual commodity classification.

The Statistics Canada-supplied data on Strategis' Trade Data Online has this for recent years using the NAICS classification and back to 1990 with the SIC classification. She needs further statistics for the period 1980-1989 to match some other work she is doing. She recognizes that she may have to do some manual work of matching commodities with industries. A note on the Trade Data Online site notes that the matching represents "a crude estimation of industry trade and is susceptible to errors." It also states the following:

"In an effort to quantify industry trade, Statistics Canada associates the exported commodity's Harmonized System (HS) code with a NAICS code using internal concordances."

CANSIM and every other source I have checked present import and export data by commodity, not by industry.

Since the data are originally from Statistics Canada I volunteered to put the question to the source. Is there anywhere to find this industry-related trade data, or to get access to the internal concordances noted above?

Answer

Trade data is available from 1980 to 1989 using the SIC classification system. However, it is only available as a custom request.

The US versions of the NAICS-HS concordances, for exports and for imports, can be downloaded from:
http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/reference/codes/index.html#concordance

Provincial Trade Data

Question

A student is looking for provincial trade statistics by commodity and total commodity for the period 1980-2000. We can only seem to find recent CANSIM information rather than older.

Answer

I think you need the print publication 'Interprovincial trade in Canada' (15-546-XPE). We have 2 volumes: 1984-1996 and 1992-1998. I am not sure whether or not there are earlier tables.

The CANSIM tables on interprovincial trade seem to only go back to 1992.