The figure, up from a Can$894 million deficit in February, beat analyst forecasts. Year over year, trade fell 10 percent. But with a full month of physical distancing policies in place in April, trade values are expected to "decrease more severely" in that month, warned Statistics Canada.

Total exports fell 4.7 percent to Can$46.3 billion in March while imports declined 3.5 percent to Can$47.7 billion, the govt agency said.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2020