The number of Canadian enterprises exporting goods abroad rose by 191 firms in 2017 to 43,480. This change mainly reflected an increase in the number of exporting enterprises in the manufacturing sector. That strength was largely offset by a decline in the retail trade sector.
Canadian enterprises exported $483.6 billion worth of goods in 2017, up $30.0 billion from 2016. Small and medium enterprises accounted for 54.4% of the increase, mainly from firms in the energy sector.
Large enterprises still accounted for 2.6% of all exporters in 2017, but were responsible for 58.1% of all export values. These firms are more likely to export to non-US countries than small and medium enterprises.
This has been excerpted from a 25 May 2018 release by Statistics Canada.