Topic: The Impact of the Global Financial Crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic crisis on Canadian bilateral trade with the United States, European Union, China, United Kingdom, and Mexico.

Guideline:

1. Introduction: Give a brief overview of the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) 2007-2009 and the COVID-19 Pandemic Crisis (CPC) 2020- present.
2. Data and Analysis: (a) Collect monthly bilateral data of imports and exports of Canada with the trade partners - the US, European Union, China, United Kingdom, and Mexico from January 2000 to July 2021.

(b) Plot bilateral exports and imports for each trading partner over time.

(c) Notice the changes in bilateral trade balance over time. Identify the crises periods in the figures.

(d) Explain, what happened in bilateral trade during both crises. If you find the impact of the GFC is different from the impact of CPC, explain the differences.

(e) Explain the similarities you find during both crises (in terms of the impact of crises on exports and imports).

3. Conclude your study. If you have any policy suggestions for the future (how to handle exports and imports during a crisis), explain them.

Data Source: Table: 12-10-0011-01, Statistics Canada. Release date: 2021-10-05