As of 2013, Canada's major imports included cars, crude petroleum, delivery trucks, food products, computers and gold. More than half of Canada’s imports come from the U.S, which is the country's largest trading partner, and 8 percent of imports come from China. Canada is the 13th richest country in the world and imported products with a value equal to more than $461 billion in 2013.
In 2013, Canada imported 295 million barrels of crude oil for a net expense of $12.2 billion. Imports of crude oil generally occur during the winter months when there is an increase in heating energy needs. Canada imports more than 700 billion cubic feet of natural gas, which costs around $3.6 billion. In 2013, the cost of natural gas decreased, which allowed Canada to spend less on the commodity and import more.
The U.S. and Canada share an electrical grid. Importing electricity allows Canada to work together with the U.S. to satisfy all of both countries' electrical energy needs.
Canada also imports a large quantity of food products. The value of agricultural and food products imported totals $35 billion per year. As of 2013, non-durum wheat and canola were at the top of the agricultural import list with a total value of $8 billion. Canada also imports large amounts of coffee, soybeans, frozen snow crabs, pork and bread from the U.S.