Is Canada the US's Leading Trading Partner?

  Manufactured goods have traditionally been Canada's top imports. Autos and auto parts are the most popular imports, followed by industrial machinery. Gas, textiles, chemicals, winter vegetables, and tropical and subtropical fruits and nuts are among the other notable imports.

The US is Canada's main trading partner, accounting for over two thirds of total commerce with the US. Trade is composed more of exports than imports. It explains the dependence on U.S. trade in a way that goes beyond the straightforward technical problem of import and export market shares. Canadian business is immediately and directly impacted by business trends in the United States due to the significance of exports. Other important allies include South Korea, Japan, the UK, Mexico, and Germany.

Services



The service sector in Canada employs more people than all other sectors combined. One of the service industries with the quickest rate of growth is tourism. One of the most sought-after travel destinations worldwide is Canada, particularly for tourists from the US, UK, Japan, France, and Germany. Every year, billions of dollars are spent by domestic and international travelers on housing, food, entertainment, and other travel-related costs. Approximately 5% of Canada's workforce worked in the tourism sector in 1990. Additionally, business services have grown dramatically, particularly in the field of computer applications.

Transport and communication Canada's large size, unequal population distribution, and need to move primary and manufactured goods long distances to coastal ports made the creation of a functional transportation infrastructure essential. Jobs and income
A quarter or so of Canadian laborers belong to trade unions, many of which are connected to institutions in the United States. Among the largest affiliates of the CLC are the United Food and Commercial Workers Canada, the National Automobile, Aerospace, Transportation, and General Workers Union of Canada, and the National Union of Public and General Employees.

Many professionals choose to work in the US because individual income tax rates are higher in Canada than they are in the US and because incomes are generally higher south of the border. Taking everything into account, taxes account for about 5% of GDP. Corporate income taxes provide the federal government with somewhat more than a tenth of its overall revenue, with personal income taxes normally providing between two-fifths and half of the total. Other notable federal taxes include health and social insurance taxes, as well as other consumption taxes (including those on gasoline, sales, alcohol, tobacco, and customs). The provinces and territories get financing from the federal government to support a variety of services, including healthcare and education. Furthermore, "equalization" contributions from the federal government to provincial governments finance economically disadvantaged areas. To pay for their activities, municipal and provincial governments may also impose taxes.

Roads and highways



A significant percentage of Canada's larger provinces and sparsely populated territories are virtually devoid of any kind of road system, despite the fact that the majority of the country's inhabited regions are well-served by highways and roads. Access to outlying settlements is often provided by roads built by the forestry, pulp & paper, and mining industries, albeit these are typically not public roads. The Trans-Canada Highway stretched 4,860 miles (7,821 kilometers) between St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Victoria, British Columbia. In 1962, the route saw its official opening. Prince Edward Island and the mainland are connected by a 13-kilometer (8-mile) bridge that was completed in 1997. The roadway is extended on both coastlines by ferry links. There are many highway networks and a large number of cars—more than one for every two people—in the urban industrial heartland. The trucking industry grew gradually after World War II, but it took off after NAFTA was implemented. Concerns concerning highway safety have been raised by the volume of commercial traffic.

Trains



Canada has some of the greatest railway mileage per person in the world. Despite connecting the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, the majority of the nation's railway networks are located in the south. The transcontinental routes do not travel north of Edmonton, Alberta, and Prince Rupert, British Columbia, even in the west, where they stretch the farthest north. However, regional lines that go north-south reach Hudson Bay in Churchill, Manitoba; James Bay in Moosonee, Ontario; and Schefferville, Quebec, in central Labrador.

The majority of railway infrastructure in Canada is run by two transcontinental systems. In 1995, the government-owned Canadian National Railways (CN) system went private. A joint-stock company, the Canadian Pacific Railway Company (CP) was established. Despite intense competition, these systems collaborate on numerous routes where it would not be advantageous to duplicate services. They are complemented by the British Columbia Railway, a significant north-south route on the west coast, and other smaller trains that cater to the mining and forestry industries in the north. The total track mileage has remained mostly unchanged despite the retirement of thousands of miles of train, especially in the Prairie Provinces, and the construction of new railroads to access the abundant resources in the North.
The significant decrease in the railway's share of passenger transportation following World War II in favor of air and car travel is, at least in part, responsible for the retirement of track kilometers. The majority of passenger trains were taken over by VIA Rail, a crown corporation established by the Canadian government in 1977. Although VIA Rail owns its trains, it makes use of CN and CP's tracks and other infrastructure. VIA Rail was unable to stop the decline in train passenger traffic, despite introducing new equipment and better services. Government subsidies were reduced and numerous passenger routes were abandoned starting in the late 1980s. The heavily populated stretch of rail passenger traffic in Canada is centered in the Windsor–Quebec City line. In 1967, GO Transit, an Ontario government organization, started running commuter trains in the densely populated region surrounding Toronto. Comparable commuter train services started in the Vancouver region in 1995 and the Montreal area in 1984.

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