Rhode Island
- 27,100 Rhode Island jobs depend on trade with Canada
- 300 Rhode Islanders are employed by Canadian-owned businesses
- Rhode Island sells more goods to Canada than to any other country in the world
- Total Canada–Rhode Island goods trade: $1.6 billion
Canadian Consul General to New England Patrick Binns (left) with Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee (right)
Ocean State Power
Located in Burrillville, RI, Ocean State Poweris owned and operated by the TransCanada Corporation. The company operates a 560 megawatt gas-fired combined-cycle power plant, which the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission hailed as a model for independent power.
Ocean State Power was the first power plant built in New England to use Canadian natural gas exclusively. Natural gas is burned in the combustion turbines to produce electricity and hot exhaust gases. At full capacity, the plant will use approximately 100 million cubic feet of natural gas per day.
Ocean State Power supports approximately 35 Rhode Island jobs and is a major purchaser of local goods and services; in 2010, the plant spent close to $10 million on maintenance and operations.
TD Bank’s expansion into Rhode Island (photo: TD Bank)
TD Bank
Since 2010, TD Bankhas expanded into Rhode Island with the opening of branches in Barrington, Johnston, East Providence and Providence. The company plans to further increase its 1,250-plus location network throughout the state, resulting in significant local job creation.
In 2011, TD Bank announced a $12 million loan program geared to helping Rhode Island small businesses create and maintain local jobs.
TD Bank is a member of TD Bank Group and a subsidiary of The Toronto-Dominion Bank of Toronto, Canada, a top 10 financial services company in North America and one of the few banks in the world rated AAA by Moody’s.
For more information on Rhode Island’s trade with Canada, please contact:
Consulate General of Canada
Three Copley Place, Suite 400 • Boston, MA 02116
Phone: (617) 247-5100 • Fax: (617) 247-5190
August 2012
Unless otherwise mentioned, all figures are based on 2011 data in U.S. dollars (US$1.00=C$0.9891). Statistics Canada: tourism, based on combined same-day and overnight travel (5/2012 release); goods & services trade (2/2012 release). World Institute for Strategic Economic Research (WISER): Canada’s export ranking (2/2012 release). U.S. Census Bureau: trade (2/2012 release). Services trade data not available at a sub-national level. Figures may not add up due to rounding. Produced by the Embassy of Canada in Washington, D.C.
Supplemental content
Rhode Island–Canada facts
Foreign export markets
- Largest export market: Canada
- % foreign-bound goods sold to Canada: 28%
Rhode Island sells more goods to Canada than to the state’s next four largest foreign markets combined
Merchandise trade
- Rhode Island exports to Canada: $643 million
- Rhode Island imports from Canada: $908 million
- Bilateral trade: $1.6 billion
Jobs*
- # jobs that depend on trade with Canada: 27,100
- # employed by Canadian-owned businesses: 300
* Job numbers from trade (2010 data) and Canadian-owned businesses (2009 data) are from a 2012 study commissioned by the Government of Canada
Tourism
- Rhode Island visits by Canadians: 94,800, $21 million spent
- Rhode Island visits to Canada: 38,800, $16 million spent
Top exports
- Plastics & plastic articles: $43 million
- Toys, games, sporting & recreation equipment: $22 million
- Optical, medical & precision instruments: $20 million
- Inorganic chemicals: $11 million
- Beverages & alcohol: $7 million
- Iron & steel tubes, pipes & sheets: $7 million
- Soaps, candles & waxes: $7 million
- Ores, slag & ash: $6 million
- Fish & crustaceans: $5 million
- Books & printed material: $5 million
- Headgear: $5 million
- Rubber & rubber articles: $5 million
- Aircraft: $4 million
Top imports
- Fuel oil: $506 million
- Precious metals: $48 million
- Organic chemicals: $30 million
- Tin & tin articles: $23 million
- Paper & paperboard: $23 million
- Plastics & plastic articles: $21 million
- Fish & crustaceans: $15 million
- Petroleum coke & bitumen: $14 million
- Wood & semi-finished wood products: $11 million
- Iron & steel tubes, pipes & sheets: $11 million
- Furniture & bedding: $10 million
- Inorganic chemicals: $6 million
- Animal meats: $6 million
Rhode Island exports $643 million in goods to Canada
- Minerals & metals (59%)
- Equipment & machinery (16%)
- Plastics & rubbers (7%)
- Chemicals (3%)
- Apparel & textiles (3%)
- Agriculture (3%)
- Other (8%)
Rhode Island imports $908 million in goods from Canada
- Energy (57%)
- Minerals & metals (18%)
- Chemicals (5%)
- Forest products (5%)
- Agriculture (4%)
- Equipment & machinery (3%)
- Other (8%)
