Fast Facts Friday: January 13, 2023

Catch up on the latest facts and read more via the links below in case you missed them this week!

1. Retail sales reached $62.7 billion in October 2022, an increase of 5.1% compared with the same month in 2021. Higher sales were reported in 14 of the 19 commodity classes. - The Daily — Retail Commodity Survey, October 2022
2. New data for December 2022 show that about 250,000 Canadians had provided ride or delivery services through an application or digital platform in the previous 12 months.- The Daily — Labour Force Survey, December 2022
3. In 2021, Canadian nurseries produced 233,293,939 potted plants. – Production of potted plants, cut flowers, cuttings, by variety and tree seedlings
4. Canadian manufacturers produced 1.4 billion cigarettes in November 2022, up 32.2% from October 2022. - The Daily — Production and disposition of tobacco products, November 2022
5. In the third quarter of 2022, the Canadian general government deficit stood at $2.2 billion, following a $10.8 billion surplus in the second quarter. - The Daily — Government finance statistics, third quarter 2022
6. Population growth in Canada’s urban centres rebounded after slowing in the pandemic. Last year, Moncton (+5.3%) and Halifax (+4.4%) were the fastest-growing census metropolitan areas—the first time the top two were in the Atlantic provinces. - The Daily — Canada's population estimates: Subprovincial areas, July 1, 2022
7. International arrivals to Canada—non-resident visitors and returning Canadians—nearly doubled compared with December 2021 but have not yet reached levels recorded before the COVID-19 pandemic. - The Daily — Leading indicator of international arrivals to Canada, December 2022
8. In 2020, the vast majority (95.8%) of enterprises that received business innovation and growth support from the Government of Canada were small and medium-sized enterprises. - The Daily — Business innovation and growth support, 2020