Local, provincial and national chambers of commerce have been working together to map out the importance of Canada’s trade and economic partnership with the U.S. and the risks faced.
This month, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce’s Business Data Lab started the Canada-U.S. Trade Tracker — a website designed to illustrate the ties between the two economies.
Charla Robinson, president of the Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce, said since last fall, they have been working closely with the Ontario and Canadian chambers of commerce to build an action plan should the new U.S. administration push forward with tariffs.
“We had a conversation about some of the tools that we thought would be helpful as the chamber network when we met in October, and have been working on it since then,” Robinson said. “They’ll continue to keep revising it as they can get more information as well.”
Robinson added the Canada-U.S. Trade Tracker delivers real-time data and actionable insights, equipping businesses and policymakers to defend and strengthen the trade partnership.
“(Business) people who are having those interactions with colleagues in the (U.S.) can arm themselves before the conversation,” she said.
“You can pull out Ontario’s top exports or what (U.S. states) specifically do most (business) with Ontario. There are different ways that you can track things so it’s a way to help inform Canadians and Canadian business people so that they’ve got some starting points when they’re talking to the (chief executive officer) of a U.S. company that they’re doing business with.”
Robinson stressed the importance of communication with U.S. business counterparts.
“We really need to build that grassroots understanding in the U.S. about how this is going to impact us so that they’re reaching out to their elected officials to say, ‘Hey, what are you guys doing? This is going to cost my business money and impact my profitability. This might mean that I can’t afford to keep as many workers,’” she said.
According to the tracker, by 1:20 p.m. on Jan. 23, $92,894,074,582 in trade crossed the U.S.-Canada border since the start of 2025. The number continuously climbs on the tracker at one-second intervals. By 1:45 p.m., the number rose to $92,958,705,764, climbing by $64,631,182. This estimate reflects an economic impact of $1,900 for every Canadian person and $1,300 for every American person.
There are 989,865 Canadian jobs supported by Ontario’s exports to the U.S., and 19,927 companies in Ontario exporting to the U.S., according to the tracker.
Canada supplies energy, critical minerals, automobiles and other commodities for companies and consumers in 34 U.S. states.
Nearly half of all merchandise trade occurs between related businesses, reflecting a deeply integrated supply chain.
Visit businessdatalab.ca/canada-u-s-trade-tracker to access the website.