According to the federal agency, Canada posted a trade surplus of $718 million in August, compared to a revised deficit of $437 million in July.

Bank of Montreal economist Shelly Kaushik noted that this was the first surplus since April.

“Energy prices led to a modest surplus in the Canadian Merchandise Trade Account,” she wrote in a report.

“But higher-than-expected volumes suggest goods trade could contribute to growth in the third quarter. Nevertheless, the economy is expected to slow significantly in the second half of the year. »

This goods trade surplus came as total exports rose 5.7% to $64.6 billion.

Exports of metal products and non-metallic mineral products rose 29.1% to a record $8.5 billion in August, driven by gold exports to the United States. At the same time, rising prices helped exports of energy products rise by 14.6% to 14.5 billion.

Total imports rose 3.8% to 63.8 billion in August, while imports of industrial machinery, equipment and parts rose 7.5% to 7.8 billion for the month.

In terms of volume, exports increased by 3% in August compared to July, while imports increased by 1.2%.

Canada’s trade deficit with countries other than the United States rose to $9.7 billion in August, compared with $8.6 billion in July, as exports rose 7.7% and imports rose 9.8% .

Canada’s trade surplus with the United States rose to $10.4 billion from $8.2 billion in July as exports south of the border rose 5.2% while imports fell 0.6%.

In a separate news release, Statistics Canada said the country’s international services trade deficit rose to $1.5 billion in August from $1.2 billion in July, as services exports fell 0.7% to June 15 .0 billion fell and service imports rose by 0.7% to 16.4 billion.

Combining Canada’s international trade in goods and services, Canada’s trade deficit with the rest of the world was $743 million in August, up from $1.7 billion in July.