Canadian Provinces in World Trade: Engagement and Detachment

The authors test whether the findings of John McCallum (1995) and John F. Helliwell (1996)--that the Canada-U.S. border substantially decreases trade--are evident in Canada's trade with the rest of the world. They also test whether there are differences across provinces and between each province's exports and imports in this 'border effect.' The authors find Canada's border with the United States is neither larger nor smaller than the border with the rest of the world and that the border's size varies dramatically across provinces. Provinces exhibit distinct borders for exports and imports, suggesting British Columbia is an export platform, while Ontario and Quebec are import platforms.