Canadian wholesale sales were essentially unchanged in May as lower sales of food and household goods offset stronger demand for non-agricultural chemicals, Statistics Canada said Tuesday.
Wholesale sales, excluding petroleum, petroleum products, other hydrocarbons, oilseeds and grain, were virtually unchanged at $90.0 billion in May after increasing 1.4 percent in April. Four of the seven wholesale subsectors reported lower sales, accounting for 68.0 percent of total wholesale activity.
In volume terms, which remove the effect of price changes, wholesale sales fell 0.2 percent from April.
The largest monthly decline came from the food, beverage and tobacco subsector, where sales fell 1.5 percent to $16.0 billion. Statistics Canada said the decrease was driven by lower volumes in the food industry group, where sales dropped 1.5 percent to $14.2 billion. Despite the monthly decline, food sales were 5.2 percent higher than in May 2025.
Sales in the personal and household goods subsector declined 0.6 percent to $13.1 billion. The pharmaceuticals industry posted the steepest drop within the subsector, with sales down 3.1 percent to $7.5 billion, its second decline in three months.
The main offset came from the non-agricultural chemical and allied product industry group, where sales climbed 14.2 percent to $2.2 billion. The increase helped lift the miscellaneous subsector by 2.2 percent to $11.9 billion.
Compared with a year earlier, wholesale sales were up 7.4 percent.
Provincial results were weaker across most of the country, with eight provinces reporting lower sales.
Quebec recorded the largest decline, with wholesale sales falling 1.8 percent to $15.7 billion. The decrease was led by the food, beverage and tobacco subsector, where sales dropped 6.7 percent to $3.3 billion.
British Columbia posted the second-largest decline, down 2.6 percent to $8.2 billion. Sales fell in six of the province’s seven subsectors. The largest decrease came in building material and supplies, where sales dropped 9.0 percent to $1.9 billion.
Wholesale inventories also moved lower in May. Inventories, excluding petroleum, petroleum products, other hydrocarbons, oilseeds and grain, fell 1.1 percent to $137.7 billion.
The largest inventory decline was in the machinery, equipment and supplies subsector, where stocks fell 2.1 percent to $40.7 billion. Inventories in the personal and household goods subsector declined 1.5 percent to $23.1 billion.
The inventory-to-sales ratio, which measures how long current inventories would last at the existing pace of sales, declined to 1.53 months in May from 1.55 months in April.