Market Snapshot: Canada is spending less money on energy imports

Release date: 2019-12-18

Both energy imports and exports are important components of Canada’s international trade. From 1987 to 2017, the value of Canada’s energy imports increased seven times. But over 2012-2019^Footnote 1, it decreased from about $11.9 billion to $9.1 billion, while the value of all Canadian imports increased from about $164.5 billion to $217.4 billion over the same time period.^Footnote 2 When looked at as a share of total value, energy decreased from 7.3% in 2012 to 4.2% in 2019.

Figure 1. Value of Canadian Imports (2012 - 2019)

Crude oil remains the largest cost component of imported energy even though its share fell from 67.2% of energy imports in 2012 to 48.1% in 2019. Some eastern Canadian refineries import crude oil because they cannot refine Canadian heavy crude oil, are not connected to western Canadian production by pipelines, or they can find a cheaper source of supply outside of Canada. The cost to import crude oil fell largely because global oil prices are significantly lower now than they were before 2015.

Natural gas and natural gas liquids increased their share in energy import from 8% in 2012 to 12.5% in 2019. This is because Ontario and Quebec have been importing more natural gas from the Appalachian Basin in the northeast U.S., where gas production has grown from less than 2 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in 2009 to over 30 Bcf/d in 2019, or about twice Canada’s 2019 gas production.

Refined petroleum products’ share of energy-import value increased from 19.4% in the beginning of 2012 to 36.3% in the middle of 2019. This is because some Canadian refineries have closed, causing higher imports of products like gasoline and diesel.

Electricity’s share remains low and has been stable from 2012 to 2019 (from 0.5% to 0.7%). The share of other imported energy products, like coal and nuclear fuel, has slightly increased, from 3.3% in the beginning of 2012 to 5.5% in the middle of 2019.

Figure 2. Share of Canadian Energy Import Values by Product (2012 - 2019)

Date modified:

2023-11-28