March 16, 2026
Statistics Canada announced that January manufacturing sales fell 3.0%
Statistics Canada announced that, following a 0.4% increase in December, total manufacturing sales fell 3.0% to $68.7 billion in January, their lowest level since May 2025. Sales were down in 11 of the 21 subsectors, led by transportation equipment (-18.2%) and machinery (-5.6%).
Within the transportation equipment subsector, motor vehicle sales fell 38.9% in January and sales of motor vehicle parts declined 7.7%. Machinery manufacturing sales declined 5.6% to $4.3 billion in January.
Sales decreased in five provinces in January, with Ontario posting the largest decline. Meanwhile, sales in Quebec recorded the largest increase.
In Ontario, sales fell 7.7% to $28.2 billion in January, the lowest level since January 2022, with declines in 16 of the 21 subsectors. The decrease was driven largely by lower sales of motor vehicles (-38.5%), motor vehicle parts (-8.9%) and machinery (-13.5%).
Sales in Quebec rose 1.4% to $18.7 billion in January, driven by gains in the primary metal (+4.7%) and fabricated metal product (+9.5%) subsectors.