The realized net income of Canadian agricultural producers rose for the first time in three years, up 10.4 per cent to $4.9 billion in 2019. Increases in realized net income were recorded in Alberta (+$425 million), Quebec (+$373 million), British Columbia (+$102 million), New Brunswick (+$41 million) and Prince Edward Island (+$20 million). With smaller increases in cannabis receipts and reduced oilseed receipts, Saskatchewan … Read more
The COVID-19 pandemic is having a considerable impact on the activities of schools and academic institutions in Canada, with many students having to continue their learning activities online. According to the results of a recent crowdsourcing initiative, which measured the impact of the pandemic on the academic life of postsecondary students, about one-third (35 per cent) of … Read more
Retail sales fell for the first time in five months, plunging 10.0 per cent to $47.1 billion in March. This drop is the largest on record and is comparable to the retail sales decline observed in the United States (-7.1 per cent) and other countries in the wake of COVID-19. As a result of this pandemic, many Canadian … Read more
New house prices rose in 13 of the 27 CMAs surveyed in April, were flat in 11 and declined in 3. The largest increases were in Guelph (+0.6 per cent), Kitchener–Cambridge–Waterloo (+0.5 per cent) and Ottawa (+0.4 per cent). Builders tied the gains to market conditions. Additionally, the inventory of available homes has been low … Read more
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) fell 0.2 per cent on a year-over-year basis in April, down from a 0.9 per cent gain in March. This was the first year-over-year decline in the CPI since September 2009. The CPI declined as energy prices fell as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Excluding energy, the CPI rose 1.6 per cent. Details online. As the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic began to … Read more
Multifactor productivity in the business sector declined in most provinces in 2018, following an increase in all provinces in 2017. Multifactor productivity measures the extent to which inputs are efficiently used in the production process. The declines in multifactor productivity in the four Atlantic provinces in 2018 were among the largest in Canada: Newfoundland and Labrador (-5.7 per cent), Nova Scotia … Read more
It was in late February that global stock and capital markets started to show higher volatility in the context of an intensifying COVID-19 crisis. As global stock markets experienced considerable losses, Canadian investors shed a record amount of US shares from their holdings in March. The divestment amounted to $29.3 billion and was, by far, the largest ever observed since … Read more
Manufacturing sales fell 9.2 per cent to $50.8 billion in March, the lowest level since June 2016 and the largest percentage decline since December 2008, during the previous recession. Manufacturing sales in March were substantially affected by COVID-19 as many plants were shut down or faced sharply lower demand during the last two weeks of the month. Sales were down in 17 of 21 industries, led by steep … Read more
The total volume of alcohol sold increased 0.2 per cent to 3,094 million litres in 2018/2019, equivalent to 9.5 standard drinks per week per person over the legal drinking age in Canada. Total wine sales by liquor stores, agencies and other retail outlets edged up 0.2 per cent to $7.5 billion during the fiscal year 2018/2019—the slowest pace since Statistics Canada began tracking alcohol sales in 1950. … Read more
The COVID-19 pandemic led to the physical closure of colleges and universities across Canada. Academic life was disrupted in some manner for the majority of postsecondary students, with 57 per cent of participants reporting that their academic work placements or courses were either delayed, postponed or cancelled. The most common disruption reported by participants as a result of the … Read more
