Exports: total value: $208.6 billion (f.o.b., 1997) commodities: newsprint, wood pulp, timber, crude petroleum, machinery, natural gas, aluminum, motor vehicles and parts; telecommunications equipment partners: US, Japan, UK, Germany, South Korea, Netherlands, China

Imports: total value: $194.4 billion (c.i.f., 1997) commodities: crude oil, chemicals, motor vehicles and parts, durable consumer goods, computers; telecommunications equipment and parts partners: US, Japan, UK, Germany, France, Mexico, Taiwan, South Korea

Debt-external: $253 billion (1996)

Economic aid: donor: ODA, $1.6 billion (1995) note: ODA and OOF commitments, $10.1 billion (1986-91)

Currency: 1 Canadian dollar (Can$) = 100 cents

Exchange rates: Canadian dollars (Can$) per US$1-1.4408 (January 1998), 1.3846 (1997), 1.3635 (1996), 1.37241 (1995), 1.3656 (1994), 1.2901 (1993)

Fiscal year: 1 April-31 March

Communications

Telephones: 15.3 million (1990)

Telephone system: excellent service provided by modern technology domestic: domestic satellite system with about 300 earth stations international: 5 coaxial submarine cables; satellite earth stations-5 Intelsat (4 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Pacific Ocean) and 2 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean Region)