There is tremendous potential for expansion of Canadian services exports, along with the creation of skilled jobs throughout all parts of Canada, if priority is given to issues affecting service exporters. While it may seem that this characterization of services was rather unflattering, although it is maintained even in some quarters today, it is a marked improvement over characterizations held in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries when they were thought to be a wholly unproductive pursuit. Needless to say, things have changed. Since the 1960s there has been a definite and momentous structural shift in developed economies, and to a lesser extent in developing economies, away from primary production and manufacturing towards services. Services now account for the largest share of domestic production.
Services are also tradable products.
While the United States is the principal market for Canadian services, as is the case for goods, Canadian services exports are more diversified. In 1996, Brazil, Sweden, Taiwan, Mexico, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand were the largest growing service export markets for Canada. This trade, however, encounters many barriers, probably more than those faced by goods. Although, unlike international trade in goods, the barriers affecting trade in services rarely take the form of tariffs or border measures. Barriers can be applied to prevent a foreign service provider from entering a foreign market or, once the foreign service provider has entered the market, other types of barriers may exist or be erected.