Canadian exports of military arms and equipment to Saudi Arabia jumped by 47 per cent to $142 million in 2016 as the troubled kingdom was intervening in next-door Yemen’s civil war and trying to suppress unrest among its own citizens.

A federal report shows the surge in exports from Canadian manufacturers — including munitions described as including “riot control agents” — took place even as the Canadian government was issuing an unusual statement of concern over growing violence in Saudi Arabia.

During the period military exports to Saudi Arabia soared, separate data gathered by Industry Canada and Statistics Canada show firearm industry exports of civilian semi-automatic rifles to Saudi Arabia exploded from zero exports in 2015 to $13.5 million worth in 2016.

Other recent data show civilian firearm exports to Saudi Arabia, under an Industry Canada and Statistics Canada category designating them as “rifles for sports, hunting or target shooting,” rose by 67 per cent from January through August this year compared to the first eight months of 2016. The 2017 rifle exports up to the end of August totalled $6.8 million and involved just over 7,000 rifles.

The Canadian government was on the defensive earlier this year over its approval of the sale of $15 billion worth of armoured personnel carriers to Saudi Arabia, a deal that had been brokered under the previous Conservative government.

The controversy intensified in July, when videos and photos showed Canadian-made armoured vehicles taking part in a clash with Saudi citizens in the country’s eastern province who are part of Saudi Arabia’s minority Shia communities.

A July statement from Global Affairs — which was not attributed to Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland or any other official in the department — said “Canada is concerned by the escalating violence in eastern Saudi Arabia, which has resulted in civilian and security force casualties.”

The statement also reiterated Canada’s opposition to the death penalty and referred to death sentences that had been ordered for 14 individuals in Saudi Arabia.

Canada’s approval criteria for authorizing the export of arms and technology stem from 1986 guidelines through which Canada “closely controls” the export of military arms and technologies to countries.

The controls govern arms exports proposed for countries that pose a threat to Canada and its allies, are involved in or under imminent threat of hostilities, are under UN sanctions or have a persistent record of serious violations of citizens’ human rights.

The controls allow exports in those cases when “it can be demonstrated that there is no reasonable risk that the goods might be used against the civilian population.”

The value of Canadian arms exports to Saudi Arabia totalled $1.7 billion from 2000 to 2016, as Saudi Arabia became one of the top export markets for arms and equipment for Canadian manufacturers.

Liberal MP John McKay, a former parliamentary secretary to Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan in the current Liberal government, declined to comment directly on the growth in arms exports to Saudi Arabia under the Liberal government.

He noted the tensions between Saudi Arabia and other countries in the region, primarily Qatar and Iran, and said the data show the Sunni-dominated kingdom is intent on acquiring more weaponry.

“It’s an extraordinarily volatile region,” McKay said in an interview.