The director of the Commercial Intelligence 

 Service at Ottawa and the Canadian Govern- 

 ment Trade Commissioner in Great Britain 

 have left on a tour of Europe to investigate 

 conditions in various countries and to stimulate 

 their trade with Canada. Their endeavors are 

 not to end here. It is expected that out of their 

 investigations and decisions will result a new 

 Canadian consular service abroad with the 

 amalgamation of the duties of Trade Com- 

 missioner and Immigration Agent in districts 

 or countries where the field is not large enough 

 for either official alone. The establishment of 

 Canadian vis6 centres in Europe will probably 

 give additional facilities for the Department of 

 Trade and Commerce and be included in the 

 duties of the new officials. 



In the month of July Canada resumed trade 

 relations with Russia, and there is under con- 

 sideration the sending of a Canadian Trade 

 Commissioner and other representatives to 

 Russia, and it is anticipated that the Soviet 

 government will send a representative to Canada. 

 This is a step towards greater trade with Europe 

 which is expected to develop to some propor- 

 tions. 



Growth of Trade with Britain 



In this connection it is interesting to note 

 the growth of trade between Canada and the 

 United Kingdom. In 1868 Canada exported 

 goods to the value of $17,905,808 to the United 

 Kingdom. Ten years later this had doubled, 

 amounting to $35,208,031. By 1900 exports 

 amounted to $96,562,875, and ten years later 

 $139,482,945. In 1920 goods to the value of 

 $489,152,637 were taken by the British Isles, 

 but by 1922, owing to a decrease in prices but 

 also to a falling-off of trade which was purely 

 a development of the war years, they amounted 

 to only $299,361,675. 



Canada's imports from the United Kingdom 

 in 1868 amounted to $37,617,325. By 1880 

 these were only $33,764,439, and by 1890 had 

 come back to $43,277,009. Between 1900 and 

 1910 they jumped from $44,279,983 to $95,336,- 

 427. The year 1920, due to a continuance of 

 war-time purchasing and inflated values, showed 

 the tremendous increase to $213,944,814. The 

 year 1922 exhibited a decline to $126,362,631. 



The total trade of Canada in the last fiscal 

 year amounted to $1,488,045,012, the sum of 

 $747,804,332 being accounted for by imports 

 and $740,240,680 by exports. Imports from 

 the United Kingdom were $117,134,576 and 

 from the United States $516,105,107. Exports 

 to the United Kingdom were $299,361,675 and 

 to the United States $293,906,643. Imports 

 from the United Kingdom fell away by $96 r 

 838,986 and from the United States by $340,- 

 071,713. Exports to the United Kingdom de- 

 clined by a value of $13,483,196 and to the 

 United States by $248,416,324. 



Industrial Outlook in Western Canada 



By John Sweeting, Industrial Agent, C.P.R., Winnipeg. 



Improvement in conditions is daily mani- 

 festing itself. All lines of trade are speaking 

 well of the situation as it at present exists, 

 pronouncing decided views on favorable future 

 outlook and commenting on the readiness with 

 which the West is able to stabilize. It is not 

 difficult to understand such feelings of confi- 

 dence when one considers the valuable crop 

 grown this year, even if not from the point 

 of view of actual returns to the grower. 

 One cannot help realizing its meaning when 

 seeing the tremendous number of grain freight 

 trains passing across the prairies day by day 

 en route to the Lake Ports. It spells huge re- 

 duction in outstanding debts; provides the means 

 of enlarging purchasing power; puts the fin- 

 ancial situation on a firmer foundation; causes 

 a reaction in all lines favorable to increasing 

 prosperity; more confident development; greater 

 security in future operations, and an assurance 

 that Western Canada, though at times affected 

 adversely by World conditions, finds little 

 difficulty in re-creating itself to the point of nor- 

 mal business. 



Judging from reports coming in from all 

 parts of the West, there is some justification 

 for feeling that the winter trade conditions will 

 be good, and that the usual unemployment 

 situation will be less difficult to deal with, as 

 many more men will be employed. There is 

 at the present moment a big call for men 

 for bush work in the lumber camps, consider- 

 ably larger than has been the case during the 

 past few years, taking care of a class of labor 

 that has hitherto found difficulty in winter 

 employment. There is a promise on the Pacific 

 coast of some winter constructional work, and 

 a good many buildings now partially erected 

 on the prairies will require help for interior 

 work for the next few months. The general 

 situation in this respect is better than the 

 average, judging from early reports. 



With the upward trend of business and 

 stabilizing of conditions, it would look as if 

 capital can again begin to pay more attention 

 to Western requirements, and assist in the 

 development of resources, expansion of trade, 

 both local and export, as well as help in taking 

 care of requirements in the settlement of more 

 people on the land and the marketing of their 

 products. Marketing methods during the last 

 few years have made rapid strides, but there 

 are yet many signs of waste of products that can 

 be taken care of if capital is made available for 

 the manufacture of by-products and expansion 

 of markets. These are important subjects 

 affecting the West, and would appear to be of 

 sufficient value to develop into actual commer- 

 cial enterprise. 



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