OTTAWA - Increases in cross-border shopping this year "have been minimal relative to retail sales,'' Statistics Canada reported Thursday.
Measured by the number of same-day auto trips to the United States or by the average amount spent on these trips or online, "cross-border shopping volumes in 2007 pale by comparison with the phenomenon observed two decades ago,'' .
It noted that a relatively small rise in the value of the Canadian dollar during the late 1980s and early 1990s provoked a huge increase in same-day visits to the U.S. "By comparison, since 2002 the largest appreciation of the exchange rate ever has been accompanied by a relatively small rise in same-day auto trips.''
The agency observed that the link between the exchange rate and same-day trips weakened as border security tightened after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks.
"The propensity of Canadians to make cross-border shopping trips has barely risen between 2002 and 2007,'' Statistics Canada said.
"In the first nine months of 2007, there were an average of 1.9 million same-day auto trips per month, compared with 1.7 million in 2002 and the all-time high of 4.9 million in 1991.''
Meanwhile, growth has been "below average'' this year in shipments to Canada by couriers, the main carriers of merchandise purchased via the Internet.
However, vehicle purchases by Canadians in the United States have approached $1 billion this year -- five times the 2002 level. "While this makes vehicles the fastest-growing segment of cross-border shopping, the dollar amount still represents less than two per cent of the vehicles purchased by Canadians.''
Regionally, Ontario is disproportionately affected by cross-border shopping, accounting for four-fifths of the minor total increase in same-day auto trips since 2002.
However, the agency reports, "the costs of trips across the border, which include gasoline consumption and waits at the border, appear to have dampened the enthusiasm of people crossing the border from Ontario to the United States.''
The remainder of the small increase in cross-border shopping has been from New Brunswick, with "almost no change recently in same-day auto trips through Quebec and Western Canada.''
