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Wholesale trade, May 2021

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Released: 2021-07-16

Wholesale sales — Canada

$72.2 billion

May 2021

0.5% increase

(monthly change)

Wholesale sales — N.L.

$463.5 million

May 2021

11.5% increase

(monthly change)

Wholesale sales — P.E.I.

$108.5 million

May 2021

-11.0% decrease

(monthly change)

Wholesale sales — N.S.

$1,164.5 million

May 2021

-2.1% decrease

(monthly change)

Wholesale sales — N.B.

$718.4 million

May 2021

-12.5% decrease

(monthly change)

Wholesale sales — Que.

$14,428.8 million

May 2021

-1.2% decrease

(monthly change)

Wholesale sales — Ont.

$35,578.4 million

May 2021

1.3% increase

(monthly change)

Wholesale sales — Man.

$1,627.8 million

May 2021

0.2% increase

(monthly change)

Wholesale sales — Sask.

$2,426.1 million

May 2021

-4.4% decrease

(monthly change)

Wholesale sales — Alta.

$7,427.4 million

May 2021

-1.8% decrease

(monthly change)

Wholesale sales — B.C.

$8,217.4 million

May 2021

5.3% increase

(monthly change)

Wholesale sales — Y.T.

$18.1 million

May 2021

23.0% increase

(monthly change)

Wholesale sales — N.W.T.

$23.0 million

May 2021

-16.6% decrease

(monthly change)

Wholesale sales — Nvt.

$13.6 million

May 2021

31.1% increase

(monthly change)

Wholesale sales continue to rise

Sales of wholesale goods rose 0.5% in May to $72.2 billion, the third consecutive monthly increase. More than 95% of the gain came from the food, beverage and tobacco subsector, which reported growth of 2.7%. Sales were higher in four of the seven subsectors, representing 72% of total wholesale sales.

Wholesale volumes fell 0.3% in May.

Chart 1  Chart 1: Wholesale sales increase in May
Wholesale sales increase in May

Wholesale sector strong over the year leading up to May 2021

Since reaching a low of $49.0 billion in April 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, sales have risen in 11 of the 13 months. In May 2021, they were 11.0% higher than the pre-pandemic level in February 2020. The 10 months with the highest sales of all time in the sector were the 10 months from August 2020 to May 2021, with May 2021 being the highest month on record.

The sustained increase in sales in the sector reflects the variety of services that wholesalers provide, even with the shifts in economic activity brought on by the pandemic. While sectors such as transportation, tourism and hospitality have all suffered significant declines, wholesalers have benefited from the increased demand for building materials, machinery (including computer and electronic products), and personal and household goods.

Food, beverage and tobacco subsector sales spur gains

Higher sales in the wholesale sector were largely the result of 2.7% growth in the food, beverage and tobacco subsector. All of the gains came from the food industry, as sales jumped 3.3% to $11.4 billion, the highest level since March 2020. Food sales have risen for five consecutive months. The increase reflects the loosening of COVID-19 restrictions, which enabled more restaurants to open with limited capacity and allowed Canadians to meet in larger groups.

Sales of machinery, equipment and supplies rose 0.5% in May, with strong increases in sales of construction, forestry, mining, and industrial machinery, equipment and supplies, and of computer and communications equipment and supplies. These were largely offset by a large drop in the sales of farm, lawn and garden machinery and equipment. The increase in the subsector was the fourth in five months.

Building material and supplies wholesalers posted their 12th increase in 13 months as sales rose 0.5% to $13.1 billion. The increase came as prices for lumber and other wood products rose for the sixth consecutive month—up 17.9% in May, according to the Industrial Product Price Index.

Gains were also reported in the motor vehicle and motor vehicle parts and accessories subsector.

Port of Montréal strike

Approximately 15% of respondents said their business was impacted by the strike at the Port of Montréal in April and May, causing a loss of approximately $230 million in wholesale sales.

Among respondents who said their business was affected, approximately two-thirds said they experienced delivery delays. Some businesses rerouted inbound containers to ports in New York and Halifax, increasing shipping and logistical costs and sparking delays ranging from three weeks to almost nine weeks.

Provinces from Quebec westward experienced the most significant delays in transport, with many businesses in Alberta, Ontario and Manitoba being moderately affected. While some businesses increased their inventories in anticipation of the disruption, many experienced raw material shortages.

Some respondents said that they reacted to labour disruptions at the Port of Montréal by changing how they transport goods, such as shipping them via air or using a different port. Others noted that they used alternate delivery methods to respond to the labour disruption and said they incurred higher costs and delays.

Ontario leads gains in wholesale sales in May

Sales rose in four provinces and two territories in May, representing 64% of total national wholesale sales. Ontario alone accounted for 49% of the sector's sales. Ontario led the growth, reporting $35.6 billion in sales, a 1.3% gain, followed by British Columbia, with an increase of 5.3% to $8.2 billion in May.

In Ontario, the food, beverage and tobacco subsector accounted for half of the province's increase, with a 6.1% rise in sales in May, 98% of which came from the food industry. In addition, sales in the machinery, equipment and supplies subsector rose 2.0%, reflecting a 21.0% increase in sales in the construction, forestry, mining, and industrial machinery, equipment and supplies industry.

Sales in British Columbia reached a record high for the third consecutive month. The building material and supplies subsector had the largest growth, up 4.6% from April. This gain was predominantly attributable to a 6.7% increase in the lumber, millwork, hardware and other building supplies industry, spurred by increased prices of lumber and other wood products.

Quebec had the largest decline, with sales falling 1.2% to $14.4 billion in May, following two months of growth. The decline reflects a 10.8% drop in the miscellaneous subsector, which reached its lowest level since February 2021. Following a record high in April, when sales jumped 41.6%, sales subsequently decreased by 49.0% in the agricultural supplies industry, cancelling the gains made in the four other industries in this subsector. Traditionally, May was the strongest month for sales in the industry in Quebec, but in the last two years, unadjusted agricultural supply sales have been stronger in April.

Inventory levels grow

Wholesale inventories rose 2.1% to $95.0 billion in May, their highest value on record. Inventories in five of the seven subsectors increased, accounting for 82% of the value of inventories for the sector.

Inventories of building material and supplies merchant wholesalers grew 5.6% to $16.6 billion, the eighth consecutive increase and a new record for the subsector. Inventories of lumber, millwork, hardware and other building supplies merchant wholesalers grew 9.7% to $8.3 billion. The industry has been growing for 11 months and contributed more than 80% of the growth in the building material and supplies subsector in May.

Inventories of personal and household goods merchant wholesalers shrank 4.7% to $16.4 billion, more than offsetting gains made in April, reflecting changes in the two largest component industries. Textile, clothing and footwear wholesalers' inventories decreased 16.1% to $3.3 billion, while personal goods wholesalers' inventories decreased 12.4% to $2.1 billion.

Miscellaneous merchant wholesalers' inventories rose 5.8%, largely because of increases in inventories of agricultural supplies wholesalers, which grew 8.4% to $5.0 billion, and other miscellaneous wholesalers, which rose 7.9% to $3.8 billion in May.

The inventory-to-sales ratio was 1.32 in May, up from 1.29 in April. The inventory-to-sales ratio is a measure of the time (in months) required to exhaust inventories if sales were to remain at their current levels.




  Note to readers

All data in this release are seasonally adjusted and expressed in current dollars, unless otherwise noted.

Seasonally adjusted data are data that have been modified to eliminate the effect of seasonal and calendar influences to allow for more meaningful comparisons of economic conditions from period to period. For more information on seasonal adjustment, see Seasonally adjusted data – Frequently asked questions.

Trend-cycle estimates are included in selected charts as a complement to the seasonally adjusted series. These data represent a smoothed version of the seasonally adjusted time series and provide information on longer-term movements, including changes in direction underlying the series. For information on trend-cycle data, see Trend-cycle estimates – Frequently asked questions.

Both seasonally adjusted data and trend-cycle estimates are subject to revision as additional observations become available. These revisions could be large and could even lead to a reversal of movement, especially for reference months near the end of the series or during periods of economic disruption.

Total wholesale sales expressed in volume are calculated by deflating current-dollar values using relevant price indexes. The wholesale sales series in chained (2012) dollars is a chained Fisher volume index, with 2012 as the reference year. For more information, see Deflation of wholesale sales.

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).

Real-time data tables

Real-time data tables 20-10-0019-01, 20-10-0020-01 and 20-10-0005-01 will be updated soon.

Next release

Wholesale trade data for June will be released on August 16.

Products

The product "Monthly Wholesale Trade Survey: Interactive Tool" (Catalogue number71-607-X) is now available online. This product is based on the data published in the tables of the Monthly Wholesale Trade Survey: 20-10-0074-01, 20-10-0076-01 and 20-10-0003-01.

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 Jeff Paul (613-854-2518; jeff.paul@canada.ca), Mining, Manufacturing and Wholesale Trade Division.

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