Canada Wholesale Sales Seen Rising the Most since 2023

Wholesale sales in Canada, excluding petroleum and hydrocarbon products, jumped by 2.8% from the previous month in June of 2026, revised marginally higher from the preliminary expectations of 2.7%, to mark the sharpest increase since May of 2023. Machinery sales surged 4.8% in the period to C$20.1 billion, driven by farm, lawn, and gardening machinery and equipment, which rose 25.9% to C$3.1 billion. Meanwhile, sales also rose sharply for food, beverage, and tobacco (2.8% to C$16.4 billion). Wholesale inventories, also excluding hydrocarbons, rose 1.2% to C$140.4 billion.

Canada's wholesale trade is estimated to have risen by 2.7% month-over-month in June 2026, the most since May 2023, according to advance estimates. The anticipated increase partly reflects higher sales in the machinery, equipment and supplies subsector.

Wholesale sales in Canada were unchanged month-over-month at C$90.0 billion in May 2026, following an upwardly revised 1.4% increase in April, compared with the preliminary estimate of a 0.7% decline. Sales fell in four of the seven subsectors. The food, beverage, and tobacco subsector declined 1.5% to C$16.0 billion, driven by lower sales in the food industry group (-1.5%). The personal and household goods subsector also contracted, with sales down 0.6% to C$13.1 billion. Within the category, the pharmaceuticals industry posted the largest decline, falling 3.1%. The overall weakness was partly offset by a 14.2% increase in the non-agricultural chemical and allied products industry group, which lifted the miscellaneous subsector by 2.2%. Regionally, wholesale sales declined in eight provinces, led by Quebec (-1.8%) and British Columbia (-2.6%). Compared with a year earlier, wholesale sales were 7.4% higher in May.