Statistics Canada announced that it will postpone releasing its September 2025 international trade report because of the ongoing U.S. government shutdown.

The report was supposed to come out on November 4, but it can’t be published until the U.S. Census Bureau is back to normal operations. Both countries will then decide on a new release date.

The delay happened because of a long-standing data-sharing agreement between Canada and the U.S. that began in 1990. Under this system, both countries exchange information on imports to help compile each other’s export numbers. This method helps ensure accuracy and saves time for businesses by reducing extra paperwork.

Since the U.S. shutdown started on October 1, several federal agencies, including the Census Bureau, have been closed. Without U.S. data on Canadian exports, Statistics Canada can’t complete its report.

The international trade in services data, which was also due on November 4, will be delayed for the same reason.

This pause could affect other key economic reports that rely on trade data, such as the balance of international payments and Canada’s GDP by expenditure for the third quarter of 2025. If the missing data isn’t available in time, Statistics Canada will create temporary estimates for exports to the U.S. However, these figures may later need larger revisions once the actual numbers are received.

Other reports, like the monthly GDP by industry and quarterly GDP by income, will not be affected by the shutdown.

A similar issue happened back in December 2018 when a 35-day U.S. government shutdown caused major delays in trade data releases.

Statistics Canada said it’s keeping a close watch on the situation and may explore other ways to handle the delay if the U.S. shutdown lasts much longer.