And the knowledge economy is becoming an important source of trade in services. The financial crisis has, in many ways, only accelerated these changes. Our exporters are adapting but it has been gut-wrenching. In the wake of the financial crisis, our exports were harder hit than in any post-war recession, decreasing by about 17 per cent over three quarters.
This was more than triple the decline experienced in the 1990–91 recession. Many Canadian exporters either went out of business or turned inward to Canadian markets. From the peak in 2008 to the trough in 2010, the number of exporters fell nearly 20 per cent, dropping by almost 9,000 firms.