Manufacturing sales increase for fourth consecutive month in May to hit record high

A general view of the Honda CRV production line is shown during a tour of a Honda manufacturing plant in Alliston, Ont., Wednesday, April 5, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Cole Burston

OTTAWA — Statistics Canada says manufacturing sales rose for a fourth consecutive month to hit a record high in May, helped by gains in the auto sector.

The agency says manufacturing sales rose 1.3 per cent to $78.1 billion in May.

The increase came as sales of motor vehicles rose 11.8 per cent to $4.6 billion in May, while the chemical subsector saw sales gain 4.6 per cent to $5.9 billion.

In constant dollars, manufacturing sales rose 0.5 per cent in May,

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In a separate report, Statistics Canada says wholesale sales, excluding petroleum, petroleum products, and other hydrocarbons and excluding oilseed and grain, were essentially unchanged at $90.0 billion in May.

In volume terms, wholesale sales, excluding those same items, fell 0.2 per cent in May.

Statistics Canada has started including oilseed and grain as well as the petroleum and petroleum products subsector as part of wholesale trade but is excluding the data from its monthly analysis until there is enough historical data for comparison.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 15, 2026.