Gross domestic product by industry, February 2024

Released: 2024-04-30

Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased 0.2% in February, following a 0.5% gain in January. Services-producing industries (+0.2%) led the growth for a second month in a row, fuelled by gains in transportation and warehousing. The goods-producing industries aggregate was essentially unchanged as the mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction sector expanded while the utilities and manufacturing sectors contracted in February. Overall, 12 of 20 sectors increased in the month.

Chart 1 
Real gross domestic product grows 0.2% in February

Transportation and warehousing increases on broad-based growth

Transportation and warehousing increased 1.4% in February, the largest monthly growth rate since January 2023, as six of nine subsectors were up. A rebound in rail transportation (+5.5%) contributed the most to the increase in February 2024 as activity returned to normal following January's cold snap in Western Canada.

Air transportation rose 4.8% in February, its largest growth rate since May 2022. This seventh consecutive monthly increase was driven by growth in international travel as some carriers increased flight capacity to Asia to reflect higher demand for travel leading up to the Lunar New Year. The accommodation subsector (+1.1%) also expanded as the number of overseas travellers entering Canada rose in February 2024.

Pipeline transportation increased 1.6% in February, partially offsetting a decline of 1.9% in January. Crude oil and other pipeline transportation rose 3.4% in February, reflecting higher exports of the commodity, while pipeline transportation of natural gas edged down 0.2%.

Public sector continues to grow but at slower pace

The public sector (consisting of educational services, health care and social assistance and public administration) grew 0.2% in February, following a 1.9% increase in January.

The educational services sector edged up 0.1% in February following a 6.1% gain in January, when activity rebounded from the declines in the previous two months attributed to the Quebec public sector workers' strike. The elementary and secondary schools industry group grew 0.3% in February, even as rotating strikes by the Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation dampened some of the growth.

Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction expands for the fourth time in five months

After declining 2.3% in January, mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction increased 2.5% in February, expanding for the fourth time in five months.

Chart 2 
Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction fully recoups January's decline

Oil and gas extraction expanded 3.3% in February, partially offsetting January's contraction when extreme cold across the Prairies impacted production. In February all types of production were up, led by a 4.4% increase in oil and gas extraction (except oil sands) as both higher natural gas extraction and crude petroleum extraction contributed to the growth. Oil sands extraction rose 2.1%, led by higher crude bitumen extraction in Alberta.

Mining and quarrying (except oil and gas) increased 1.9% in February, more than offsetting the January decline. Metal ore mining was up 2.3% as most types of mining activities were up. Gold and silver ore mining was up for the third month in a row, rising 4.4% in February, as multiple gold mines in Canada increased production, coinciding with all-time high exports of gold.

The utilities sector contracts

Chart 3 
Utilities sector contracts in February

The utilities sector contracted 2.6% in February, partially offsetting an increase of 3.2% in January, when an extreme cold snap in Western Canada contributed to elevated demand for heating-related purposes. The electric power generation, transmission, and distribution industry (-2.8%) contributed the most to the decrease, as demand for heating-related purposes dropped following the increase in January and lower reservoir levels continued to impact hydroelectric power generation. Natural gas distribution (-2.6%) also recorded a decline in February, particularly due to residential customers, largely offsetting the gain recorded in the previous month.

Manufacturing decreases driven in large part by a decline in transportation equipment manufacturing

The manufacturing sector declined 0.4% in February, driven by declines in transportation equipment manufacturing and chemical products manufacturing. Transportation equipment manufacturing contracted 2.9% as six of seven industries comprising the subsector were down. Motor vehicle and parts manufacturing was the largest contributor to the decline, as shutdowns for retooling activity continued to impact production.

Gains in machinery manufacturing (+2.5%) and computer and electronic product manufacturing (+5.1%) tempered the decline in the overall sector.

Finance and insurance up for third consecutive month

Finance and insurance increased 0.3% in February, rising for a third consecutive month. Financial investment services, funds and other financial vehicles (+1.4%) drove the increase in February. Increases in mutual fund and equity activity drove the gains, as expectations regarding interest rate announcements led to higher-than-normal activity in the month.

Credit intermediation and monetary authorities edged up 0.2% in February with increases in mortgage and non-mortgage loans as well as fixed-term deposits contributing to the increase. Fixed-term deposits have been trending up since the beginning of 2022 when interest rates began to rise.

Chart 4 
Main industrial sectors' contribution to the percent change in gross domestic product in February

Advance estimate for real gross domestic product by industry for March 2024

Advance information indicates that real GDP was essentially unchanged in March. Increases in utilities and real estate and rental and leasing were offset by decreases in manufacturing and retail trade. Owing to its preliminary nature, this estimate will be updated on May 31, 2024, with the release of the official GDP by industry data for March.

With this advance estimate for March, information on real GDP by industry suggests that the economy expanded 0.6% in the first quarter of 2024. The official estimate for the first quarter will be available on May 31, 2024, when the official estimate of real GDP by income and expenditure is released.

Sustainable development goals

On January 1, 2016, the world officially began implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development—the United Nations' transformative plan of action that addresses urgent global challenges over the following 15 years. The plan is based on 17 specific sustainable development goals.

The release on gross domestic product by industry is an example of how Statistics Canada supports monitoring the progress of global sustainable development goals. This release will be used to help measure the following goal:

Products

The User Guide: Canadian System of Macroeconomic Accounts (Catalogue number13-606-G) is available.

The Methodological Guide: Canadian System of Macroeconomic Accounts (Catalogue number13-607-X) is also available.

The Economic accounts statistics portal, accessible from the Subjects module of the Statistics Canada website, features an up-to-date portrait of national and provincial economies and their structure.

Contact information

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