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Western wholesalers enjoying the ride

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Distributors of wholesale goods to retailers and other businesses are cashing in on Western Canada’s economic boom. From 2002 to 2005, wholesalers based in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia recorded the strongest growth among wholesalers in Canada. In those three years, sales of Western-based wholesalers rose at an average annual rate of 10%, double the 5% average for all of Canada.

The economic and demographic boom is pushing up demand for machinery and electronic equipment and for building materials—these two categories showed the strongest growth in Western Canada.

Among the Western-based wholesalers, those in Alberta and British Columbia accounted for nearly 90% of the growth since 2002. In 2005, Alberta’s wholesalers sold nearly

$54.6 billion worth of merchandise, up 16% from 2004. In British Columbia, wholesalers’ sales rose 9% to $47.3 billion.

Oil companies have accelerated their investments in machinery, benefiting Alberta’s machinery wholesalers. British Columbia’s lumber wholesalers saw volumes increase, partly thanks to exports to feed construction in the United States. However, lumber sales values dropped because of lower prices.

The largest growth rate among wholesalers in any province was in Alberta, where the most notable gain occurred in the machinery and electronic equipment category.

In Saskatchewan, firms selling farm products saw revenues rise 27% in 2005, largely because of the reopening of the U.S. border in July to Canadian cattle under 30 months of age.