As a result, Canada's merchandise trade surplus widened from 2.3 billion Canadian dollars in October to 3.1 billion Canadian dollars in November.
The country's total exports rose to 58.6 billion Canadian dollars, the fifth increase in six months. The rise was observed in eight of 11 product sections.
In real or volume terms, total exports rose 3.5 percent.
The exports of consumer goods jumped 9 percent to 7.3 billion Canadian dollars in November mainly due to higher exports of pharmaceutical products valued at 610 million Canadian dollars.
Canada's total imports rose to 55.4 billion Canadian dollars in November due to atypical shipments of pharmaceutical products.
Excluding imports of pharmaceutical products, total imports edged up 0.1 percent. Overall, gains were observed in six of 11 product sections. In real or volume terms, total imports rose 0.8 percent.
The imports of consumer goods rose for the fourth consecutive month, up 5.2 percent in November.
The imports of pharmaceutical products increased sharply in November, which saw large imports of medication for packaging and labeling.
There was also a sharp increase in imports of "vaccines for human medicine other than for influenza," a category that includes vaccines for COVID-19 in the month.
The imports of metal and non-metallic mineral products rose 7.3 percent in November. The imports of iron and steel products soared 24.9 percent to a record high of 1.6 billion Canadian dollars.
Meanwhile, the imports of basic and industrial chemical, plastic and rubber products jumped 7.3 percent to a record high of 4.7 billion Canadian dollars. The increase was primarily the result of higher imports of lubricants and other petroleum refinery products, which surged 34.2 percent mainly on higher imports of crude oil diluents from the United States.
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