Trade and Gender: Israel

The original Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement (CIFTA) came into force on January 1, 1997. Two-way merchandise trade between Canada and Israel was valued at nearly $1.8 billion in 2021, which has more than tripled the value of 2-way trade before CIFTA entered into force. In 2019, the modernized CIFTA entered into force with the addition of 9 new chapters, including 1 on trade and gender.

In 2021, Canada merchandise exports to Israel totaled $477.5 million, and imports totaled $1.3 billion.

In 2020, in Canada, 1,862 jobs were directly or indirectly supported by merchandise exports to Israel. Of these, 641 were occupied by women.

Top 5 Industries

In 2020, the top 5 industries employing Canadian women in jobs supported directly and indirectly by merchandise exports to Israel were:

• retail trade (140 jobs)
• agriculture and agri-food (59 jobs)
• wholesale trade (57 jobs)
• computer and electronic product manufacturing (51 jobs)
• professional, scientific and technical services (40 jobs)

In 2020, the number of Canadian businesses exporting merchandise to Israel was 1,034, and the number of Canadian businesses importing merchandise from Israel was 1,639.

Women-owned and equally owned Canadian businesses trading with Israel make up a larger proportion of merchandise importers than of merchandise exporters but account for a smaller proportion of imports than exports by value.

Ownership of Canadian Businesses Trading with Israel in 2018

Women-owned and equally owned businesses*:

• Export value: 7.2%
• Import value: 13.4%
• Exporters: 18.4%
• Importers: 24.4%

Men-owned businesses

• Export value: 92.8%
• Import value: 86.6%
• Exporters: 81.6%
• Importers: 75.6%

*Notes:

• The term “equally owned business” is used in reference to one in which men and women each own 50%. The reported percentages are those for which data on ownership by gender are available.

Sources: Statistics Canada (Canadian Employer-Employee Dynamics Database 2018, Trade by Exporter Characteristics 2018 and 2020, Trade by Importer Characteristics and Canadian International Merchandise Trade Database 2021)