Wholesale trade, January 2026

Released: 2026-03-12

Wholesale sales fall in January

Wholesale sales (excluding petroleum, petroleum products, and other hydrocarbons and excluding oilseed and grain) fell 1.0% in January, on lower sales by companies in the motor vehicle and motor vehicle parts and accessories subsector, as well as the mineral, ore and precious metals industry group.

Volumes of wholesale goods sold (excluding petroleum, petroleum products, and other hydrocarbons and excluding oilseed and grain) fell 1.5% in January.

Chart 1 
Wholesale sales (excluding petroleum, petroleum products, and other hydrocarbons and oilseed and grain) fall in January

Motor vehicles and motor vehicle parts and accessories subsector reports sales decline in January

Sales in the motor vehicles and motor vehicles parts and accessories subsector fell 3.9% to $13.5 billion in January. This was the second decline in three months and the second-lowest sales level since March 2024. The decline in January 2026 followed a large sales gain by motor vehicle wholesalers in December 2025 (+9.2%), which came after a shortage of semiconductors in November.

Mineral, ore and precious metal wholesalers reported a 38.3% drop in sales to $941.5 million in January 2026, after rising 85.7% in the previous month. The decline reflected a significant drop in sales volumes for January. During periods of economic instability, investors frequently buy gold—driving up both the price for gold and the volume of sales. While price increases were accompanied by higher volumes in December, this was not the case in January.

Partially offsetting these declines in January was a 1.6% increase in sales in the food, beverage and tobacco subsector. This was the second increase in three months.

Ontario leads provincial sales decline

In January, six provinces reported lower wholesale sales, led by Ontario and Quebec.

Ontario led the decline in provincial wholesale sales in January, falling 1.7% to $43.1 billion. Sales declined in five of the seven subsectors, with the motor vehicle and motor vehicle parts and accessories subsector (-6.4% to $9.1 billion) leading the drop.

Quebec recorded the second-largest decline, down 0.9% to $15.5 billion in January. Three of the seven subsectors posted lower sales, with the personal and household goods (-5.3% to $3.5 billion) and the machinery, equipment and supplies (-5.2% to $2.7 billion) subsectors contributing most significantly to the decrease.

Partially offsetting these declines, British Columbia saw an increase in wholesale sales, up 0.9% to $8.4 billion in January. Three of the seven subsectors saw growth in sales, led by the food, beverage and tobacco (+12.4% to $1.9 billion) and the machinery, equipment and supplies (+7.5% to $1.5 billion) subsectors.

Inventories decline in January

Wholesale inventories (excluding petroleum, petroleum products, and other hydrocarbons and excluding oilseed and grain) were down 0.7% to $135.6 billion in January. Five of the seven subsectors recorded lower inventories, led by the agricultural supplies industry group (-8.3% to $7.3 billion) and the motor vehicle and motor vehicle parts and accessories subsector (-1.9% to $18.1 billion).

The inventory-to-sales ratio was unchanged at 1.59 in January. This ratio is a measure of the time (in months) required to exhaust inventories if sales were to remain at their current levels.

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).