Our trade balance slid to begin 2016, figures released this morning by Statistics Canada showed.
The agency says the country's merchandise trade deficit increased to $655 million in January, compared with $631 million in December.
Economists had expected a trade deficit of $1.05 billion for the month.
The increase came as imports rose 1.1% in January to $46.7 billion, while exports totaled $46.0 billion, up 1% from December.
The key exports figure excluding energy products increased 2.3%
The deficit came as exports to countries other than the United States fell 3.7% to $11.1 billion in January. Imports from countries other than the U.S. increased 1.1% to $15.4 billion.
Meanwhile, the nation's number-crunchers concluded, exports to the U.S. climbed 2.6% to $34.9 billion in January, while imports from the U.S. gained 1.1% to $31.2 billion.
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