Wholesale sales rise in October
Sales by Canadian wholesalers (excluding petroleum, petroleum products, and other hydrocarbons and oilseed and grain) rose 0.1% to $86.0 billion in October. Sales rose in four of seven subsectors, representing approximately half of total wholesale sales. Increases were led by the motor vehicle and motor vehicle parts and accessories subsector and the farm product (excluding oilseeds and grains) subsector.
In volume terms, wholesale sales (excluding petroleum, petroleum products, and other hydrocarbons and oilseed and grain) fell 0.7% in October, reflecting higher prices.
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Note: The higher variability associated with the trend-cycle estimates is indicated on the chart with a dotted line for the current reference month and the previous three months. For more information, see the Note to readers.
Sources: Tables 20-10-0074-01 and 20-10-0003-01.
Motor vehicle and motor vehicle parts and accessories lead the gains
Motor vehicle and motor vehicle parts and accessories sales rose 2.3% to $14.7 billion in October, driven by higher sales in the motor vehicle industry group. The increase came largely as a result of higher wholesale sales of passenger vehicles manufactured abroad, as well as buses and transport trucks.
Wholesale sales of farm product (excluding oilseeds and grains), which include live animal sales, reported a 16.7% increase in sales in October, the sixth consecutive monthly increase. Sales totalled $2.0 billion in October, a 28.1% increase from the same month in 2024. The increase reflects increased volumes as well as higher prices coinciding with low stocks of live animals.
Mostly offsetting the increases in October, sales from miscellaneous wholesalers fell 3.7% to $10.9 billion and were 5.8% higher compared to the same month last year. Most of the monthly decrease came from the agricultural supplies (-9.8% to $3.2 billion) and the mineral, ore and precious metal (-10.8% to $1.0 billion) industry groups.
Ontario generates wholesale gains
Ontario led the gains in provincial wholesale sales in October, with sales up 0.9% to $44.3 billion. This was the fifth increase in six months for the province. Excluding Ontario, sales of wholesale goods in Canada fell 0.8% in October.
In October, the growth in Ontario was generated by increases in sales in the motor vehicle and motor vehicle parts and accessories (+2.0%), food, beverage and tobacco (+1.4%) and the personal and household goods (+1.3%) subsectors.
The largest decline in October came in Quebec, where sales fell 2.9%. Quebec wholesalers reported lower sales in five of the seven subsectors, led by the food, beverages and tobacco subsector (-9.6%).
Inventories virtually unchanged in October
Total wholesale inventories were virtually unchanged (-0.0%) in October at $135.4 billion. The largest declines came in the food, beverage and tobacco (-2.6% to $15.0 billion) and personal and household goods (-1.3% to $22.4 billion) subsectors. Meanwhile inventories rose in the motor vehicle and motor vehicle parts and accessories subsector (+2.7% to $18.5 billion), largely mitigating the declines.
The inventory-to-sales ratio fell from 1.58 in September to 1.57 in October. The ratio is a measure of the number of months required to exhaust inventories if sales were to remain at their current levels.
Table 1: Wholesale merchants' sales by industry—seasonally adjusted
Table 3: Wholesale merchants' inventories by industry—seasonally adjusted
Note to readers
Wholesale (sales and inventories) values exclude petroleum, petroleum products, and other hydrocarbons and oilseed and grain unless otherwise stated.
Petroleum, petroleum products, and other hydrocarbons and oilseed and grain data continue to be available in data tables but will be excluded from monthly analysis until historical data are available.
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 disruptions.
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 the publication "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 business-to-business electronic markets, and agents and brokers (NAICS 419).
Real-time data tables
Real-time data tables 20-10-0020-01 and 20-10-0005-01 will be updated soon.
Next release
January 15, 2026.
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