Canada Retail Sales Climb to Start Year After Pullback in December — Update

2026-02-20 14:28:20

By Robb M. Stewart

OTTAWA–Canadians looked to have braved severe winter conditions in parts of the country to hit the stores last month, driving a strong rebound in retail sales to start the new year.

Retail sales slipped 0.4% during December to a seasonally adjusted 70.01 billion Canadian dollars, the equivalent of about US$51.18 billion, Statistics Canada said Friday. The advance tally of receipts for January indicates sales increased 1.5%, which would mark the biggest advance since the end of 2024.

Statistics Canada offered no detail with its forecast for the first month of 2026, which was based on the responses of roughly 60% of retailers surveyed and will be revised.

The projection contrasts with cardholder tracking by Royal Bank of Canada showing spending by customers of the country’s biggest bank cooled in the first month of 2026, with retail outlays slipping 0.3% on a three-month average. That would mark the first decline in card spending after 13 months of growth.

Rough weather, including snowstorms and periods of extreme cold, likely disrupted in-person activity in parts of the country at the same time that post-holiday fatigue appeared to have set in with households holding back, economists at Royal Bank said.

December’s drop was marginally softer than the 0.5% retreat in sales expected by economists, and continued a stretch of choppy trade for retailers following a 1.2% rise in November. Retail activity inched up 0.1% in the final quarter of 2025, and was up 4% for the full year.

Inflationary pressures in Canada have largely been contained over the past two years, though the unemployment rate remains elevated. The economy likely stalled in the final quarter of last year as trade uncertainty and tariffs continue to weigh, and the Bank of Canada has forecast resilient domestic consumption will help drive modest economic growth this year.

Statistics Canada’s retail survey for December showed sales were down in three of the nine industry segments it tracks, led by a decline at motor-vehicle and parts dealers. In volume terms, retail trade for the month was flat but fell 0.7% on a year earlier.

The largest rise in sales came from a 2.8% increase in receipts at gas stations and fuel vendors, which were up a second straight month. Fuel sales in volume terms were up 4.5% for the month.

Core retail sales, which exclude car and auto-parts dealers and gas stations, dipped 0.3% between November and December to take back some of the prior month’s 1.5% increase.

Canadians spent less in December at building-material and garden-equipment and supplies dealers, following two months in a row of higher sales. Sales also were down on furniture, home furnishings, electronics and appliances.

Write to Robb M. Stewart at robb.stewart@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 20, 2026 08:59 ET (13:59 GMT)

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