Introduction
Water transport is a vital industry in Canada. As a
major trading nation, Canada relies on ocean shipping to
facilitate international commerce. Inland and coastal
shipping activities add to the diversity and complexity of
this sector of the Canadian economy. Statistics Canada
conducts a number of surveys to measure the nature,
scope and structure of the marine transport sector.
Shipping In Canada presents a comprehensive and
historical overview of the many aspects of marine transport
activity. Each part of this publication focuses on a specific
topic to provide a clear picture of the shipping industry, its
inherent characteristics, changes and emerging trends.
Part I presents data on domestic and international
shipping activity in Canada, focusing on commodity flows.
Whereas the analysis emphasizes the major fluctuations
noted during 1996, an historical perspective is also
presented to place 1996's events in context. The analytical
text is followed by a Tabulation Section, which is made of
eight historical (ten years) and fifteen current tables.
Part II presents two years of aggregate financial and
operating statistics on Canadian-domiciled marine transport
carriers. The size, structure and performance of the
Canadian water carrier industry are delineated in terms of
such variables as operating revenues, expenses,
employment and fuel consumption.
Domestic and international shipping statistics are
derived from two distinct, yet conceptually similar,
programs. Although some differences in comparability
exist, survey results tend to be highly compatible.
However, financial and operational statistics are produced
from a separate program differing in scope, concepts and
methodology and are not comparable with commodity origin
and destination data. For further information on survey
compatibility, readers are advised to refer to the section
“Notes to Users”, presented at the end of this publication.
In addition to the information presented in this
publication, Transportation Division of Statistics Canada
can provide users with a wide selection of standard and
custom tabulations produced in a variety of media. Readers
who are interested in obtaining supplementary shipping data
are advised to refer to the sections “Supplementary
Tabulations” and “How to get the Economic Facts and
Analysis You Need on Transportation”, also presented at
the end of this publication.