Footwear Industry Profile

Definition of the Industry

The footwear manufacturing industry comprises establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing footwear of any material and falls under North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code 3162: Footwear Manufacturing. This classification includes athletic shoes, boots, work boots and shoes, golf shoes, infant's and children's footwear, orthopaedic shoes, slippers and skate boots.

Statistical Summary

Footwear Manufacturing [3162] — Major Economic Indicators
(millions of $ CAD, employment in thousands)
Economic Indicators 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 % Change
2007-2008		 CAAGR
Source: Statistics Canada, Trade Data Online.
Definitions: 
CAAGR: Compound Average Annual Growth Rate, 2003 to 2007, except for Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Manufacturing Intensity Ratio and Labour Productivity which are from 2003 to 2006.
Apparent Domestic Market (ADM) = Shipments plus Imports minus Exports
Manufacturing Intensity Ratio (MIR) = GDP divided by Shipments
Import Penetration = Imports divided by ADM
Export Orientation = Exports divided by Shipments
Domestic Market Share = Shipments minus Exports divided by ADM
Labour Productivity = GDP divided by Employment (in thousands of $ CAD)
Apparent Domestic Market 1,748.8 1,766.1 1,867.4 2,013.7 1,993.6 -1.0% 3.3%
Shipments 349.5 321.1 293.8 348.2 267.6 -23.2% -6.5%
Gross Domestic Product 177.5 143.1 141.4 138.9 n.a. -1.7% -7.8%
Manufacturing Intensity Ratio 50.8% 44.6% 48.1% 39.9% n.a. -17.1% -7.7%
Total Imports 1,498.9 1,565.4 1,672.4 1,754.7 1,817.3 3.6% 4.9%
Domestic Exports 99.3 120.4 98.8 89.2 91.2 2.3% -2.1
Trade Balance -1,399.3 -1,444.9 -1,573.6 -1,665.6 -1,726.1 3.6% 5.4%
Import Penetration 85.7% 88.6% 89.6% 87.1% 91.2% 4.6% 1.6%
Export Orientation 28.4% 37.5% 33.6% 25.6% 34.1% 33.1% 4.7%
Domestic Market Share 14.3% 11.4% 10.4% 12.9% 8.8% -31.2% -11.3%
Labour Productivity 47.0 41.0 48.0 52.0 n.a. 9.6% 3.9%
Employment 3.8 3.5 3.0 2.7 2.3 -14.9% -12.2%

Economic Overview

Despite a year-over-year average decrease in shipments from 2004 to 2008, the Canadian footwear apparent domestic market maintained an annual growth rate of 3.3 percent, following several years of increases in foreign imports totalling $1.8 billion in 2008. Sales in the Canadian footwear industry experienced a decline in 2008 of 23.3 percent ($267.5 million), compared to an increase of 18.1 percent in 2007. In spite of the decline in sales, exports increased in 2008, by 2.3 percent for a total of $91.2 million.

In 2008, imported goods increased to a record $1.8 billion, primarily from China (69.1 percent of imports), Vietnam (7.7 percent) and Italy (6.2 percent). Imported products consisted primarily of leather shoes followed by footwear made of rubber or plastic. Imports grew in response to an increase in domestic consumption since 2004 (from $1.7 billion to slightly below $2.0 billion, growth of 3.3 percent annually). As consumption is largely based on leather shoes and as this good is produced at such low volumes in Canada, this market is dependent on imports to satisfy consumer demands. Imports will likely continue to rise in the future as Canadian demand for footwear grows. By 2013, the domestic market is forecast to be 192.1 million pairs, an increase of 12.1 percent over 2008 1.

Footwear production is concentrated in Quebec which accounted for 60.3 percent of Canadian shipments in 2008, followed by Ontario with a 24.8 percent share of national shipments. British Columbia with 5.1 percent, Saskatchewan and Alberta, produced 0.1 percent and 1.0 percent of Canadian footwear shipments respectively. Canadian footwear manufacturers are focussed on the production of waterproof and cold weather boots, work and safety boots, and western and cowboy boots.

Major Issues

There continues to be concern with imports from low cost countries.

Associations

1 Footwear in Canada. Datamonitor, December 2008, p. 27. (Return to text.)