Real-time local business conditions, March 21 to March 27, 2022

Eight population centres were added to the Real-time Local Business Conditions Index series on March 25, 2022, bringing the coverage to a total of 15 population centres. The new population centres are Halifax, Hamilton, London, Oshawa, Québec, Victoria, and Windsor. The index includes these new centres from the reference period of August 2020.

The Real-time Local Business Conditions Index is released as an experimental statistic to measure business activity in real time during the pandemic and beyond. The index tracks business conditions in Calgary, Edmonton, Halifax, Hamilton, Kitchener, London, Montréal, Oshawa, Ottawa–Gatineau, Québec, 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 March 28 to April 3, 2022 will be released on April 8, 2022.