Real-time local business conditions, September 5 to 11, 2022

Ten population centres were added to the Real-time Local Business Conditions Index series on July 29, 2022, bringing the coverage to a total of 25 population centres. The new population centres are Abbotsford, Barrie, Guelph, Kanata, Kelowna, Regina, Saskatoon, Sherbrooke, St. Catharines–Niagara Falls, and St. John's. The index includes these new centres from the August 2020 reference period.

The Real-time Local Business Conditions Index is released as an experimental statistic to measure business activity in real time during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. The index tracks business conditions in Abbotsford, Barrie, Calgary, Edmonton, Guelph, Halifax, Hamilton, Kanata, Kelowna, Kitchener, London, Montréal, Oshawa, Ottawa–Gatineau, Québec, Regina, Saskatoon, Sherbrooke, St. Catharines–Niagara Falls, St. John's, Toronto, Vancouver, Victoria, Windsor, and Winnipeg.

A rising index reflects improving business conditions in an urban centre, while a declining index signals deteriorating business conditions.

The Index has three components that combine alternative data sources with Statistics Canada's data holdings: the first is a static component to measure the economic size of a business district at the local level; the second tracks operating conditions of the businesses in a given area; and the third measures the level of business activity in the area using road traffic data.

Next release

Data on real-time local business conditions for September 12 to 18, 2022, will be released on September 23, 2022.