State trade fact sheets - Rhode Island
Rhode Island
Highlights
- Canada is Rhode Island’s #1 customer
- 105,000 Canadian travelers spent $16 million in Rhode Island in 2017
- 32 Canadian-owned businesses employ 1,025 workers in Rhode Island
- Rhode Island sells more goods to Canada than to its next two largest foreign markets combined — the Dominican Republic & Italy
- Canada sells more to Rhode Island than it sells to Singapore
Photo: iStock
First New England Cement Plant in Over 50 Years
Since October 2017, McInnis Cement has operated their first U.S. terminal at the Port of Providence. McInnis delivers payloads of over 30,000 metric tons to the terminal from the company's plant in Port-Daniel–Gascons, Canada. With the opening of an additional facility in Bronx, NY, McInnis has the capacity to store over 74,000 metric tons of cement on the U.S. East Coast. McInnis is the first cement company to build a new plant to serve New England in more than 50 years. McInnis employs 10 people in Providence, including stevedores, as well as marine and trucking-related jobs. Approximately 30 to 40 staff were employed in construction-related jobs during the construction of the ship-receiving facilities.
Textron Equips Canadian Forces
Providence-headquartered Textron Systems supplies the Canadian Forces Tactical Armoured Patrol Vehicle (TAPV) program. The company is providing overall program management, acting as the design authority, coordinating a team of companies for vehicle assembly and integration, providing direct product support, managing the in-service support contract, as well as executing an Industrial Regional Benefits program. The contract is valued at over $600 million. Textron Systems delivered the first TAPVs to the Canadian Army in 2016, and plans to deliver at least 30 vehicles per month. The fleet will be distributed across seven bases. The Canadian Army expects to declare full operational capability for these vehicles by mid-2020.
Canadian-Owned Companies Support Rhode Island Jobs
In 2019, 32 Canadian-owned companies operated in Rhode Island. These companies created over 1,000 jobs in Rhode Island, while the state exported over $750 million of goods and services to Canada. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics data, the average salary in Rhode Island is $54,810. This means that Canadian-owned businesses are directly responsible for $56 million in salary dollars.
Canadian-owned companies, including Ocean State Power, TD Bank and Putnam Investments are clearly major contributors to Rhode Island's economy employing RI residents in every sector of the economy, paying taxes locally and contributing to the local economy through these salary dollars.
Rhode Island exports $592 million in goods to Canada annually
Rhode Island exports to Canada by industry
- Chemicals: 4%
- Equipment & machinery: 19%
- Minerals & metals: 59%
- Plastics & rubbers: 7%
- Other: 11%
Rhode Island imports $1.1 billion in goods from Canada annually
Rhode Island imports from Canada by industry
- Agriculture: 4%
- Chemicals: 4%
- Energy: 65%
- Equipment & machinery: 3%
- Forest products: 5%
- Minerals & metals: 11%
- Plastics & rubbers: 3%
- Other: 5%
Top Rhode Island goods exports to Canada
- Pearls, gems, precious metals & jewelry: $321 million
- Plastics & plastic articles: $41 million
- Optical, medical & precision instruments: $27 million
- Toys, games, sporting & recreation equipment: $19 million
- Inorganic chemicals: $10 million
- Iron & steel tubes, pipes & sheets: $6 million
- Telephones & AV recording equipment: $6 million
- Motor vehicle parts: $6 million
- Paper & printing machinery: $5 million
- Ceramics: $4 million
Top Rhode Island goods imports from Canada
- Fuel oil: $700 million
- Pearls, gems, precious metals & jewelry: $60 million
- Petroleum coke & bitumen: $33 million
- Organic chemicals: $30 million
- Wood & semi-finished wood products: $25 million
- Plastics & plastic articles: $23 million
- Animal meats: $20 million
- Paper & paperboard: $20 million
- Iron & steel tubes, pipes & sheets: $15 million
- Salt, sulfur, earth & stone, lime & cement: $14 million
Rhode Island exports $166 million in services to Canada annually
Top Rhode Island services exports to Canada
- Travel services: $76 million
- Financial services: $28 million
- Business & professional services: $17 million
- Insurance services: $14 million
- Tech services: $12 million
Connect to our team
For more information on Rhode Island’s trade with Canada, please contact our trade team in Boston.
March 2020
- Unless otherwise mentioned, all figures are based on 2019 data in U.S. dollars.
- U.S. Census Bureau: goods trade, Canada’s export ranking (2/2020 release).
- The Trade Partnership: 2018 services exports (estimated, 2/2020 release).
- Statistics Canada: 2017 tourism, based on combined same-day and overnight travel (8/2019 release, US$1.00=C$1.2986).
- Dun + Bradstreet: Canadian-owned businesses (12/2019 release).
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: median annual Rhode Island wage ($54,810, 3/2019 release).
- Figures may not add up due to rounding.
