Industry Snapshot: Textile Manufacturing

Definition:

The Canadian textiles industry is comprised of the following North American Industry Classification (NAICS) codes:

  • 313 - Textile Mills covers the manufacture and dyeing and finishing of yarns, fabrics and some textiles products
  • 314 - Textile Product Mills covers the manufacture of final products such as carpets, rugs, window coverings, etc.
  • 325220 - Artificial and Synthetic Fibres and Filaments Manufacturing covers monofilament, filament yarn, staple or tow production.

Customers for textiles can be grouped as belonging to traditional and non-traditional textile markets.  Traditional textile markets are destined to apparel and accessories, household, furnishings, and floor coverings.  Non-traditional markets are defined as technical textiles and ‘other value-added textiles’.  Examples of markets for technical textiles are filtration, transportation, medical, packaging, protection, reinforcement, sporting goods, agriculture, construction, civil engineering, and environmental industries.  The ‘Other value-added textiles’ concept refers to so-called traditional textile products to which advanced technological characteristics have been added.  Examples are advanced sport and leisure apparel, antimicrobial textiles, special protective textiles, easy-care textiles, intelligent textiles and ultra comfortable textiles.

Statistical Summary:

Textiles - Major Economic Indicators
(millions of Canadian dollars)
Economic Indicators 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 %
 2010-11		 CAGR
2007-2011
Gross Domestic Product 1,930.7 1,731.8 1,337.1 1,440.7 1,454.7 1.0% -6.8%
Shipments 5,189.2 4,642.2 3,491.3 3,663.1 3,667.5 0.1% -8.3%
Total Imports 4,959.0 4,756.0 4,229.0 4,466.0 4,675.0 4.7% -1.5%
Domestic Exports 2,424.0 2,026.0 1,821.0 1,873.0 1,895.0 1.2% -6.0%
Apparent Domestic Market 7,724.2 7,372.2 5,899.3 6,256.1 6,447.5 3.1% -4.4%
Domestic Market Share 35.8% 35.5% 28.3% 28.6% 27.5% -3.9% -6.4%
Trade Balance -2,535.0 -2,730.0 -2,408.0 -2,593.0 -2,780.0 7.2% 2.3%
Import Penetration 64.2% 64.5% 71.7% 71.4% 72.5% 1.6% 3.1%
Export Orientation 46.7% 43.6% 52.2% 51.1% 51.7% 1.1% 2.6%
Manufacturing Intensity Ratio 37.2% 37.3% 38.3% 39.3% 39.7% 0.8% 1.6%
Capital Investment* 80.1 100.9 76.2 92.0 95.2 3.5% 4.4%
R&D 49.0 45.0 39.0 44.0 48.0 9.1% -0.5%
Employment (LFS)** 33.4 24.4 22.7 25.4 19.9 -21.7% -12.1%
Labour Productivity ($1,000s) 57.8 71.0 58.9 56.7 73.1 28.9% 6.0%

* Does not include NAICS 325224
** Data is from 2004

Source: Statistics Canada. Trade Data Online

Definitions: Apparent Domestic Market (ADM) = Shipments + Imports – Exports
Domestic Market Share = Shipments – Exports / ADM
Import Penetration = Imports / ADM
Export Orientation = Exports / Shipments
Manufacturing Intensity Ratio = Gross Domestic Product (GDP) / Shipments
Labour Productivity = GDP/Employment (in thousands of CDN$)

Economic Overview:

In 2011, the Canadian textiles industry employed approximately 20,500 workers, and manufactured slightly over $3.67 billion worth of textile products, of which 52% was exported.  The number of establishments was estimated at 1970.

The Canadian textile industry has declined in size over the past decade.  Employment fell by 60% between 2004 and 2011, from 51,670 to 20,500.  The number of firms in the textile industry has decreased by 45% between 2001 and 2011 from 3563 to 1970 firms.  This has been due to a number of reasons, but one reason has been the increase in size of the textile and apparel (an important market for textiles) manufacturing industries in countries that offer low labour cost manufacturing.  Supporting this shift in global textile and apparel trade patterns was the phased elimination of textile quotas by the World Trade Organization between 1995 and 2005.  Overall, global demand for textile fibres has grown by slightly more than 50% over the past decade.  In 2011, China produced and exported the largest share of textiles in the world (32%).

In response to these economic pressures, the Canadian textile industry has restructured by shifting production toward niche products and those requiring high levels of customer service. The composition of output has moved from fibres and traditional apparel fabrics toward niche textiles and textile products.  As a result, a smaller, competitive industry has arisen that has greater production and innovation intensity.

Main Issues:

Technological advances in textile sciences are resulting in the development of novel textiles, or in textiles being increasingly adopted to replace traditional materials used in other industries. 

Global recessions have resulted in lower consumer spending and less investment into innovative product development by companies due to a lack of capital.

A slow economic recovery, as well as rising energy costs and the rising value of the Canadian dollar have negatively affected the Canadian textile industry. 

The Canadian textile industry collaborated in 2008 to develop the Technology Roadmap for the Canadian Textile Industry.  This document remains a good source of information on this industry.  (http://www.gcttg.com/index.php?module=CMS&type=user&id=108)

Associations:

Textile industry organizations include: