Monthly Survey of Manufacturing, November 2025
Released: 2026-01-15
Following a 1.0% decrease in October, total manufacturing sales fell 1.2% to $70.8 billion in November, on lower sales in 15 of the 21 subsectors. The decline was driven by lower sales in the motor vehicle (-15.9%) and motor vehicle parts (-6.3%) industry groups as well as the machinery subsector (-3.2%). These declines were partially offset by a 6.8% increase in sales of petroleum and coal products. On a year-over-year basis, total sales were down 1.1% in November.
In real terms, manufacturing sales declined 2.3% in November, while the Industrial Product Price Index rose 0.9%.
Chart 1
Manufacturing sales
Motor vehicle and motor vehicle parts industry groups post the largest declines
Sales of motor vehicles decreased 15.9% to $3.8 billion in November, the second consecutive monthly decrease and the lowest level since October 2022. In November 2025, auto production at a major auto assembly plant was significantly disrupted by global semiconductor shortages. This supply chain disruption also affected several auto parts manufacturing plants, contributing to an overall 6.3% decline in sales of motor vehicle parts. On a year-over-year basis, motor vehicle sales were down 20.7% in November, while they were up 1.4% in the motor vehicle parts industry group.
Following a 0.2% decline in October, sales in the machinery subsector fell 3.2% to $4.4 billion in November. Sales were down in several machinery industry groups, but the decrease was most pronounced in the agricultural, construction and mining machinery as well as the other general-purpose machinery industry groups. Compared with November 2024, total machinery manufacturing sales declined 0.4% in November 2025.
In the petroleum and coal product subsector, sales increased 6.8% to $8.2 billion in November, driven by both higher prices and volumes. Sales in constant dollars rose 3.2% during the same period. The end of a maintenance shutdown at a major refinery contributed to the volume gains, while prices for refined petroleum products increased mainly due to increased diesel fuel and motor gasoline prices. Concerns over global supply stemming from the ongoing Russia–Ukraine conflict, combined with stronger demand, were the primary factors behind these price increases.
Sales decrease in eight provinces
Sales decreased in eight provinces in November, led by Ontario and followed by British Columbia.
In Ontario, manufacturing sales decreased 2.0% to $30.5 billion in November, on lower sales in 12 of the 21 subsectors. The largest decreases were in the transportation equipment (-9.2%) and non-metallic mineral product (-9.8%) subsectors. Within the transportation equipment subsector, motor vehicle sales were down 15.3% to $3.5 billion, while sales of motor vehicle parts decreased 6.5% to $2.6 billion. These declines were partially offset by a 13.2% increase in sales of miscellaneous products. Meanwhile, Ontario production of aerospace products and parts rose 9.2% in November. Year over year, total manufacturing sales in Ontario fell 1.8% in November.
Sales in British Columbia declined 3.0% to $5.3 billion in November, mainly driven by lower sales of food (-5.4%), wood products (-5.1%), and primary metals (-6.5%). The United States' recent tariffs have significantly impacted British Columbia's wood product subsector. Sales in the wood product subsector in British Columbia in November were at their lowest level since May 2020.
Total inventories increase
Following a 0.5% decline in October 2025, total inventories edged up 0.1% to $121.9 billion in November, on higher inventories in 14 of the 21 subsectors, led by the transportation equipment (+1.4%), food (+1.9%), and wood product (+1.8%) subsectors. Inventory levels in the machinery subsector posted the largest decline (-3.1%). In November, higher inventories of finished products (+0.4%) and goods in process (+0.1%) were partially offset by a 0.2% decline in raw material inventories.
Chart 2
Total inventories increase in November
The inventory-to-sales ratio increased from 1.70 in October to 1.72 in November. This ratio measures the time, in months, required to exhaust inventories if sales remain at their current level.
Chart 3
The inventory-to-sales ratio increases in November
Unfilled orders edge up
Total unfilled orders edged up 0.1% to $112.9 billion in November. Higher unfilled orders of computers and electronics (+4.3%) and fabricated metals (+1.8%) contributed the most to the increase. Meanwhile, unfilled orders of aerospace products and parts declined the most (-0.3%). Year over year, total unfilled orders rose 6.9% in November.
Chart 4
Unfilled orders edge up in November
Capacity utilization rate declines
The capacity utilization rate (not seasonally adjusted) for the total manufacturing sector decreased from 80.4% in October to 78.7% in November. The declines were most noticeable in the transportation equipment (-6.4 percentage points), primary metal (-3.2 percentage points), and food (-1.8 percentage points) subsectors. The capacity utilization rate of petroleum and coal products rose 3.6 percentage points during the same period.
Chart 5
Capacity utilization rate decreases in November
Focus on Canada and the United States
The United States is important for Canadian manufactured products, serving as Canada's largest export market. In 2024, Canadian manufacturers sold about half of their products to foreign customers, with roughly 80% of those exports going to the United States. The transportation equipment and food product subsectors were the top exporters. Notably, in 2024, Canadian transportation equipment manufacturers sold approximately two-thirds of their products to the United States, which accounted for roughly one-quarter of total exports of manufactured products to the United States.
For more data and insights on areas touched by the socio-economic relationship between Canada and the United States, see the Focus on Canada and the United States webpage.
Sustainable development goals
On January 1, 2016, the world officially began implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development—the United Nations' transformative plan of action that addresses urgent global challenges over the following 15 years. The plan is based on 17 specific sustainable development goals.
The Monthly Survey of Manufacturing is an example of how Statistics Canada supports the reporting on the global sustainable development goals. This release will be used to help measure the following goal:
Note to readers
Monthly data in this release are seasonally adjusted and are expressed in current dollars, unless otherwise specified.
Seasonally adjusted data are data that have been modified to eliminate the effect of seasonal and calendar influences to allow for more meaningful comparisons of economic conditions from period to period. For more information on seasonal adjustment, see Seasonally adjusted data – Frequently asked questions.
Trend-cycle estimates are included in selected charts as a complement to the seasonally adjusted series. These data represent a smoothed version of the seasonally adjusted time series and provide information on longer-term movements, including changes in direction underlying the series. For information on trend-cycle data, see Trend-cycle estimates – Frequently asked questions.
Both seasonally adjusted data and trend-cycle estimates are subject to revision as additional observations become available. These revisions could be large and could even lead to a reversal of movement, especially for reference months near the end of the series or during periods of economic disruption.
Non-durable goods industries include food; beverage and tobacco products; textile mills; textile product mills; apparel; leather and allied products; paper; printing and related support activities; petroleum and coal products; chemicals; and plastics and rubber products.
Durable goods industries include wood products; non-metallic mineral products; primary metals; fabricated metal products; machinery; computer and electronic products; electrical equipment, appliances and components; transportation equipment; furniture and related products; and miscellaneous manufacturing.
Production-based industries
For the aerospace and shipbuilding industry groups, the value of production is used instead of the value of sales of goods manufactured. The value of production is calculated by adjusting monthly sales of goods manufactured by the monthly change in inventories of goods in process and finished products manufactured. The value of production is used because of the extended period of time that it normally takes to manufacture products in these industries.
Unfilled orders are a stock of orders that will contribute to future sales, assuming that the orders are not cancelled.
New orders are those received whether sold in the current month or not. New orders are measured as the sum of sales for the current month plus the change in unfilled orders from the previous month to the current month.
Manufacturers reporting sales, inventories and unfilled orders in US dollars
Some Canadian manufacturers report sales, inventories and unfilled orders in US dollars. These data are then converted to Canadian dollars as part of the data production cycle.
For sales, based on the assumption that they occur throughout the month, the average monthly exchange rate for the reference month established by the Bank of Canada is used for the conversion. The monthly average exchange rate is available in table 33-10-0163-01. Inventories and unfilled orders are reported at the end of the reference period. For most respondents, the daily average exchange rate on the last working day of the month is used for the conversion of these variables.
However, some manufacturers choose to report their data using a day other than the last working day of the month. In these instances, the daily average exchange rate on the day selected by the respondent is used. Note that because of exchange rate fluctuations, the daily average exchange rate on the day selected by the respondent can differ from both the exchange rate on the last working day of the month and the monthly average exchange rate. Daily average exchange rate data are available in table 33-10-0036-01.
Revision policy
Each month, the Monthly Survey of Manufacturing releases preliminary data for the reference month and revised data for the previous three months. Revisions are made to reflect new information provided by respondents and updates to administrative data.
Once a year, a revision project is undertaken to revise multiple years of data.
Real-time data tables
Real-time data tables 16-10-0014-01 and 16-10-0015-01 will be updated on January 26.
Next release
Data from the Monthly Survey of Manufacturing for December 2025 will be released on February 16, 2026.
Contact information
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).
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