OTTAWA – Canadian manufacturing and wholesale sales both fell in November on weakness in the auto sector, Statistics Canada said in a pair of reports Thursday.
The agency said total manufacturing sales fell 1.2 per cent to $70.8 billion in November, while wholesale sales, excluding petroleum, petroleum products, and other hydrocarbons and excluding oilseed and grain, fell 1.8 per cent in November to $84.4 billion.
Alexandra Brown, North America economist at Capital Economics, called it grim news for the fourth quarter.
“While the decline in manufacturing sales in November was broadly as expected, the surprise slump in wholesale sales suggests that GDP growth was quite a bit weaker than expected last quarter,” Brown wrote in a report.
In an early estimate for November real gross domestic product released last month, Statistics Canada suggested GDP grew by 0.1 per cent for the month.
Brown suggested that the weak wholesale sales figures could mean the GDP figure might fall short of that estimate and raises the risk that it was instead unchanged for November.
“That would be a concerning result following the 0.3 per cent fall in October and would put the economy on track for negative growth last quarter,” Brown said.
The drop in manufacturing sales came as sales of motor vehicles fell 15.9 per cent, while the motor vehicle parts group dropped 6.3 per cent. The machinery subsector lost 3.2 per cent.
The declines were partially offset by a 6.8 per cent increase in sales of petroleum and coal products, helped by both higher prices and volumes.
In real terms, manufacturing sales fell 2.3 per cent in November.
In a separate report, Statistics Canada said wholesale sales of motor vehicles and motor vehicle parts and accessories fell 11.5 per cent in November to $12.9 billion, the lowest level since October 2022.
Sales in both the motor vehicle group fell 14.6 per cent, while the used motor vehicle parts and accessories group dropped 26.9 per cent. The new motor vehicle parts and accessories industry group rose 2.1 per cent.
In volume terms, wholesale sales, excluding petroleum, petroleum products, and other hydrocarbons and excluding oilseed and grain, fell 2.3 per cent in November.
The pair of economic reports comes ahead of the Bank of Canada’s interest rate decision and monetary policy report on Jan. 28. The central bank is widely expected by economists to keep its policy interest rate on hold at 2.25 per cent.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 15, 2026.
