Government trade policy and Canada's balance of trade

Overview

In 1988 the Government of Canada negotiated a Free Trade Agreement with the United States.

Students will examine the changes in import and export patterns in Canadian trade in the 1990s and consider the extent of the impact of this government economic policy. The lesson requires the use of higher-level thinking skills in the manipulation and analysis of statistics and tables from the Canada Yearbook 1999 or CD-ROM.

Objectives

• To understand international trade relationships, including imports and exports and balance of trade
• To interpret statistical tables
• To form opinions and make projections based on statistical analysis

Suggested grade levels and subject areas

Intermediate, Secondary
Economics, World Issues, Social Studies

Duration
45–60 minutes to analyse the tables
45–60 (optional) to discuss the students' analyses
45–60 minutes to organize and write the report or essay

Vocabulary

Balance of trade — The difference between the value of the goods and services that a country exports and the value of the goods and services that it imports. If a country's exports exceed its imports, it has a trade surplus; if imports exceed exports, the country has a trade deficit. However, because so much economic activity now involves capital (i.e., financial or monetary) transactions, a country's balance of payments provides a more complete picture of its international transactions.

Materials

• Canada Year Book 1999
  Print version copies of text (pp. 292-301) and tables (pp. 323, 331-333); if needed, pp. 301, 311-312 (see Classroom Instructions)
  CD-ROM version: go to The Economy > The Economy > Tables "Imports and exports of goods on a balance-of-payments basis and by geographic area," "Imports, exports and trade balance of goods on a balance-of-payments basis," "Exports of goods on a balance-of-payments basis "Imports of goods on a balance-of-payments basis;"
  HTML
  if needed, go to The Economy > The Economy > Introduction, The International Sector (see Classroom Instructions)
  HTML
• Student worksheet

Classroom instructions

1. Using the introduction of the chapter on The Economy as a background resource, explain to the students the national policy that was the basis of Canadian government economic policy throughout much of the 20th century. Explain the circumstances of the 1980s that led to the adoption of the Free Trade Agreement with the United States.
   Note: Distribute pp. 301 and 311-312 for print version, or Introduction and The International Sector for CD-ROM version, only after students have attempted to analyse the tables. The teacher may wish to refer in a general way to the issues raised in these pages, in order to guide the students' analysis of the tables.
2. Provide students with appropriate tables (see Materials).
3. Distribute the Student Worksheet.

Optional variation: separate the statistical analysis and writing process by introducing a discussion session between the two parts of the activity. This may allow students to clarify their ideas and allow the teacher to introduce ideas which may not be obvious to the students from the data but can be supported by the data.

Evaluation

Use the text material in the Canada Year Book 1999, Chapter 9, (The Economy, The International Sector) for examples of the kind of analysis that students should produce. Use the spreadsheet example as a guide to the type of manipulation of the data that students should be encouraged to use in their analysis of the tables.

Please e-mail comments or examples of how you used this exercise in your class.