Canada’s February wholesale trade sees modest rise
Investing.com -- According to a report by Statistics Canada, the country’s wholesale sales, excluding petroleum, petroleum products, other hydrocarbons, oilseed, and grain, saw a 0.3% increase, reaching $85.7 billion in February 2025. This represents a 3.3% rise compared to the same month in the previous year. The sales increase was observed in two out of seven subsectors, which make up 40.3% of total wholesale sales.
The machinery, equipment, and supplies subsector reported the most significant increase, with a 7.1% rise to $19.0 billion. All four industry groups within this subsector saw increases, with the computer and communications equipment and supplies industry group leading with an 11.2% increase to $5.3 billion. The construction, forestry, mining, and industrial machinery, equipment and supplies industry group followed with a 6.8% increase to $6.2 billion.
However, the overall increase in wholesale sales was somewhat offset by a decline in five of the seven subsectors. The motor vehicle and motor vehicle parts and accessories subsector reported the largest decrease, down 3.1% to $14.3 billion.
In an additional report, Statistics Canada announced that new vehicle sales in February 2025 fell 8.1% compared to the prior year. The decline in sales is seemingly due to U.S. President Donald Trump’s auto tariffs, announced in January 2025 and implemented in March of the same year.
Despite six provinces reporting a decrease in wholesale sales, Ontario, which accounts for 52.1% of total wholesale sales, led the national increase. The province saw an increase for the second consecutive month, up 1.5% to $44.6 billion. The machinery, equipment, and supplies subsector had the largest increase, up 9.5% to $9.7 billion. Alberta saw the second-largest provincial increase, with sales up 1.2% to $9.4 billion, driven by the machinery, equipment, and supplies subsector.
In contrast, British Columbia reported a decline in wholesale sales, down 3.9% to $8.2 billion. The building material and supplies subsector led the decrease, down 9.8% to $2.1 billion.
Wholesale inventories, excluding petroleum, petroleum products, other hydrocarbons, and oilseed and grain, increased by 2.2% to $130.6 billion in February. This marked the first time since September 2022 that inventories grew in all seven subsectors. The machinery, equipment, and supplies subsector led the increase, up 4.2% to $40.0 billion. The building material and supplies subsector followed with a 2.1% increase to $22.9 billion.
The inventory-to-sales ratio, a measure of the time required to exhaust inventories if sales were to remain at their current levels, increased from 1.50 in January to 1.53 in February.
In conclusion, the wholesale sales uptick seems partly tied to consumers and businesses front-loading purchases to dodge tariff impacts. Still, uneven subsector performance and declining vehicle sales signal broader caution amid trade tensions.
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