A 15-day strike by CN Rail workers in February contributed to a decline of over $900 million in Canada's trade surplus for the month, Statistics Canada said Friday.

The overall surplus came in at $4.83 billion, down from January's $5.76 billion.

Canadian companies exported $39.6 billion worth of merchandise in February, an $800 million drop from the previous month. Imports remained relatively stable, climbing by 0.3 per cent to $34.8 billion.

"Merchandise arriving at a port or border may have been cleared through customs and thus included in import values, even though the product may not have been shipped through to the importer," Statistics Canada said.

The only sector that saw growth in exports during the month was energy, most of which is transported via pipeline.

Exports of industrial goods posted the largest decline among all sectors in February, ending nine straight monthly increases.

The strike by CN conductors and yard workers hamstrung Canada's industrial producers' ability to ship goods. Those same workers rejected a tentative one-year contract earlier this week and began rotating pickets at some locations across the country. CN has also locked out some employees.