Most of the employment growth seen in Canada since late 2014 has been in service industries that pay above-average wages, helping to support national income. Services are also a bright spot in the export picture. Exports of services have continued to grow, both relative to goods and in absolute terms.
In the first half of 2016, Canada was on pace to export more than $ billion in services, almost $ billion more than five years earlier. At a time of sluggish trade growth worldwide, exports of Canadian commercial services such as engineering, research and development, and financial services have grown by more than five per cent annually since 2000.