Canadian data centre push drives imports from U.S. to new high

By Nojoud Al Mallees

(Bloomberg) — Canada’s imports from the U.S. reached a record high in June, fuelled by a surge in computer parts used for data centres as the country looks to expand its artificial intelligence infrastructure. 

Higher volumes of electronic and electrical equipment and parts drove an increase in total Canadian imports, as they otherwise declined in 9 out of 11 product sections, Statistics Canada reported on Tuesday.

Imports of computers and computer peripherals rose by 59% in June, primarily due to processing units used for data centres coming from the U.S. 

That pushed imports from the U.S. to a record high of $42.63 billion, narrowing Canada’s trade surplus with its southern neighbour to $10 billion from $11.1 billion the previous month.

The Canadian government is pushing to grow the country’s AI data centre capacity, and communities are seeing a rapid rise in project proposals. 

Overall, Canada’s trade surplus with all countries widened slightly in June as an increase in gold exports more than offset a decline in energy shipments.

Imports and exports increased by 0.2% and 0.4% respectively in June, driving the country’s trade surplus to $3.86 billion from a revised $3.70 billion in May.

Exports increased for a fifth consecutive month, driven by a 16.5% increase in metallic and non-metallic mineral products. That was driven by higher shipments of gold to the UK as well as purchases of Canadian-held gold by foreign residents in June. Meanwhile, energy exports fell by 10% as crude oil prices fell.

Despite the monthly decline, higher shipments of energy products driven by the Middle East conflict pushed up total Canadian exports by 13.1% in the second quarter. That marked the strongest quarterly increase since the third quarter of 2020. Exports of motor vehicles and parts also increased by 19.3% over the three-month period.

“Trade is going to be a big add to second quarter GDP, which suggests there’s some upside to Statcan’s already strong early estimate,” said Benjamin Reitzes, a rate strategist with Bank of Montreal. Last week, gross domestic product data suggested the economy was tracking 3.4% annualized growth in the second quarter.

The federal agency noted the depreciation of the Canadian dollar boosted the value of imports and exports, which both declined in U.S. dollars in June.

In volume terms, exports rose by 1.1% while imports fell by 1.5% on the month.

Canada’s trade deficit with country’s other than the U.S. narrowed to $6.1 billion from $7.4 billion in May, as imports from China, South Korea and Germany declined.

–With assistance from Mario Baker Ramirez.

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Last modified: August 4, 2026