The Daily
|
 In the news  Indicators  Releases by subject
 Special interest  Release schedule  Information

Wholesale trade, October 2016

Warning View the most recent version.

Archived Content

Information identified as archived is provided for reference, research or recordkeeping purposes. It is not subject to the Government of Canada Web Standards and has not been altered or updated since it was archived. Please "contact us" to request a format other than those available.

Released: 2016-12-20

Wholesale sales — Canada

$56.6 billion

October 2016

1.1% 

(monthly change)

Wholesale sales — N.L.

$381.3 million

October 2016

-0.5% 

(monthly change)

Wholesale sales — P.E.I.

$63.9 million

October 2016

-1.4% 

(monthly change)

Wholesale sales — N.S.

$786.1 million

October 2016

2.2% 

(monthly change)

Wholesale sales — N.B.

$533.5 million

October 2016

-1.0% 

(monthly change)

Wholesale sales — Que.

$10,449.7 million

October 2016

3.4% 

(monthly change)

Wholesale sales — Ont.

$29,307.7 million

October 2016

0.9% 

(monthly change)

Wholesale sales — Man.

$1,378.3 million

October 2016

-1.5% 

(monthly change)

Wholesale sales — Sask.

$1,867.9 million

October 2016

-8.1% 

(monthly change)

Wholesale sales — Alta.

$6,050.6 million

October 2016

-0.4% 

(monthly change)

Wholesale sales — B.C.

$5,729.7 million

October 2016

3.4% 

(monthly change)

Wholesale sales — Y.T.

$11.9 million

October 2016

14.9% 

(monthly change)

Wholesale sales — N.W.T.

$56.9 million

October 2016

1.6% 

(monthly change)

Wholesale sales — Nvt.

$7.2 million

October 2016

13.7% 

(monthly change)

Wholesale sales increased 1.1% to $56.6 billion in October, offsetting most of September's 1.5% decrease. Gains were recorded in five subsectors, led by higher sales in the building material and supplies, motor vehicle and parts, and food, beverage and tobacco subsectors.

In volume terms, wholesale sales increased 0.9%.

Chart 1  Chart 1: Wholesale sales increase in October
Wholesale sales increase in October

Higher sales in five subsectors

Sales rose in five of seven subsectors, representing approximately 87% of total wholesale sales.

The building material and supplies subsector recorded the largest increase in dollar terms, up 2.8% to $7.6 billion on the strength of sales in the lumber, millwork, hardware and other building supplies industry, which recorded the lone increase (+5.6%) and reached a record high. Exports of forestry products and building and packaging materials increased in October.

Sales in the motor vehicle and parts subsector rose 1.8% to $11.3 billion in October. While sales increased in two of three industries in the subsector, sales in the motor vehicle industry (+1.2%) rose to a record high and accounted for more than half of the advance in the subsector. Imports and exports of motor vehicles and parts increased in October.

In the food, beverage and tobacco subsector, sales increased 1.7% to $10.9 billion in October, the first increase in three months and the highest level since May 2016. Sales in the food industry rose 1.8%, erasing the 1.8% decline observed in September.

The machinery, equipment and supplies subsector rose 1.1% to $11.0 billion, a fifth increase in six months. Sales in the other machinery, equipment and supplies industry (+4.8%) accounted for most of the gain.

Sales in the miscellaneous subsector decreased 2.0% to $6.8 billion, the second consecutive decline for the subsector. Three of the five industries in the subsector recorded lower sales, led by the agricultural supplies industry (-10.2%). This was the lowest level for the industry since November 2014.

Sales increase in four provinces

Sales increased in four provinces, with Quebec and Ontario recording the largest dollar-value increases.

Quebec increased 3.4% to $10.4 billion in October with gains in six of seven subsectors. The largest contributors to Quebec's rise were the motor vehicle and parts subsector and the food, beverage and tobacco subsector. This was Quebec's first increase in three months.

Sales in Ontario increased 0.9% to $29.3 billion, recording gains in five of the past six months. The gains in October were on the strength of the building material and supplies subsector and the miscellaneous subsector.

The machinery, equipment and supplies subsector and the motor vehicle and parts subsector contributed to the higher sales in British Columbia, which increased 3.4% from September to $5.7 billion, with gains in six of seven subsectors. The province recorded a year-over-year increase of 10.8%.

Sales in Nova Scotia also increased in October, up 2.2% to $786 million. The majority of subsectors posted gains, but the food, beverage and tobacco subsector added the most to the monthly growth within the province. This was Nova Scotia's third monthly increase in the past four months.

Declines in six provinces in October were led by Saskatchewan, Alberta and Manitoba, with the miscellaneous subsector leading the decrease for all three provinces.

Saskatchewan fell 8.1% from September to $1.9 billion, declining 16.6% year over year. Alberta (-0.4%) declined to $6.1 billion, its fifth decrease in the past seven months, and recorded a 6.2% decline year to date. Compared with September, Manitoba (-1.5%) decreased to $1.4 billion, with declines in five of seven subsectors, and a year-over-year decline of 4.1%.

New Brunswick (-1.0%), Newfoundland and Labrador (-0.5%) and Prince Edward Island (-1.4%) all saw decreases in October. While the miscellaneous subsector contributed most to declines in Newfoundland and Labrador, the food, beverage and tobacco subsector led the decrease in New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.

Inventories rise

Wholesale inventories rose 0.8% to $72.9 billion in October, a third consecutive increase. Gains were recorded in five of seven subsectors, together representing 76% of wholesale inventories.

Chart 2  Chart 2: Inventories rise in October
Inventories rise in October

Inventories in the personal and household goods subsector (+2.0%) posted the largest increase in dollar terms, reaching their highest level on record in October. The miscellaneous subsector (+1.7%) reported its first gain in eight months.

Both the machinery, equipment and supplies subsector (+0.5%) and the building material and supplies subsector (+0.6%) recorded higher inventories for the third consecutive month.

Inventories in the food, beverage and tobacco subsector were unchanged in October.

The motor vehicle and parts subsector (-0.3%) recorded its first decline in five months.

The inventory-to-sales ratio was unchanged at 1.29 in October. This ratio is a measure of the time in months required to exhaust inventories if sales were to remain at their current level.




  Note to readers

All data in this release are seasonally adjusted and expressed in current dollars, unless otherwise noted. For information on seasonal adjustment, see Seasonally adjusted data – Frequently asked questions.

Total wholesale sales expressed in volume are calculated by deflating current dollar values using relevant price indexes. The wholesale sales series in chained (2007) dollars is a chained Fisher volume index with 2007 as the reference year. For more information, see Sales in volume for Wholesale Trade.

The Monthly Wholesale Trade Survey covers all industries within the wholesale trade sector as defined by the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), with the exception of oilseed and grain merchant wholesalers (NAICS 41112), petroleum and petroleum products merchant wholesalers (NAICS 412) and business-to-business electronic markets, and agents and brokers (NAICS 419).

For information on trend-cycle data, see the StatCan Blog and Trend-cycle estimates – Frequently asked questions.

Real-time CANSIM tables

Real-time CANSIM tables 081-8011, 081-8012 and 081-8015 will be updated on January 6, 2017. For more information, consult the document Real-time CANSIM tables.

Next release

Wholesale trade data for November 2016 will be released on January 23, 2017.

Contact information

For more information, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; STATCAN.infostats-infostats.STATCAN@canada.ca).

For analytical information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact John Burton (613-862-4878; john.burton@canada.ca), Manufacturing and Wholesale Trade Division.

Report a problem on this page

Is something not working? Is there information outdated? Can't find what you're looking for?

Please contact us and let us know how we can help you.

Privacy notice

Date modified: