Monthly Survey of Manufacturing, May 2026
Released: 2026-07-15
Total manufacturing sales reached a record high, rising 1.3% to $78.1 billion in May. This was the fourth consecutive monthly increase. In May, sales rose in 14 of the 21 subsectors, led by the transportation equipment (+4.1%) and chemical (+4.6%) subsectors. Meanwhile, the electrical equipment, appliance and component subsector posted the largest decline (-5.8%). On a year-over-year basis, total manufacturing sales increased 13.4% in May.
In constant dollars, total manufacturing sales rose 0.5% in May, while the Industrial Product Price Index increased 1.2%.
Motor vehicle sales lead the increase
Sales of motor vehicles increased 11.8% to $4.6 billion in May, following a 4.6% decline in April. The gain was driven by higher sales of automobiles and light-duty motor vehicles, as well as heavy-duty trucks. On a year-over-year basis, total sales in the motor vehicle industry group increased 9.0% in May.
In the chemical subsector, sales increased 4.6% to $5.9 billion in May, marking the third consecutive monthly gain and the highest level since July 2024. Sales rose in all but one chemical industry group, with the largest increase occurring in basic chemical manufacturing. The gain in total chemical product sales in current dollars stemmed from higher prices as sales in real terms were down 1.7% in May.
Sales in the electrical equipment, appliance and component subsector posted the largest decline, decreasing 5.8% to $1.4 billion in May. Lower-than-usual seasonal sales of electrical equipment were the primary factor behind the decline. The decrease in the subsector was broad-based and observed across multiple industry groups. Despite the month-over-month decrease, total sales in the electrical equipment, appliance and component subsector were 8.1% higher in May compared with the same month a year earlier.
Chart 1
Manufacturing sales
Ontario drives the gain in manufacturing sales in May
Sales rose in six provinces in May, led by Ontario and followed by Saskatchewan. Meanwhile, Quebec posted the largest decline.
Sales in Ontario increased 2.0% to $32.6 billion in May, the fourth consecutive monthly gain and the highest level since September 2023. Sales were up in 13 of the 21 subsectors in May, led by the transportation equipment (+7.0%) and chemical (+9.4%) subsectors. Within the transportation equipment subsector, motor vehicle sales rose 12.2% to $4.2 billion while production of aerospace products and parts increased 9.0% to $730 million. Those gains were partially offset by a 10.0% decline in sales for the computer and electronic product subsector. Total manufacturing sales in Ontario increased 6.7% on a year-over-year basis in May.
Sales in Saskatchewan increased 9.6% to $2.2 billion in May, driven primarily by a 20.4% increase in food manufacturing sales. The gain in food manufacturing sales was largely attributable to stronger sales in the grain and oilseed milling industry group, coinciding with a 2.0% increase in exports of grain and oilseed milling in May. Robust demand for canola manufacturing products from China, following the easing of trade tensions, as well as demand from the United States, contributed to this increase.
Following four consecutive monthly increases, sales in Quebec declined 0.8% to $19.8 billion in May, primarily due to lower sales of petroleum and coal products. Excluding this subsector, total manufacturing sales in Quebec edged up 0.1% in May.
Total inventories increase
Total inventories rose 0.5% to $125.9 billion in May, a record high and the fifth consecutive monthly increase. The gain in May was due to increased goods in process (+1.9%) and raw materials (+0.4%) inventories, while the inventories of finished products declined 0.4%. Higher levels of inventories were observed in the chemical subsector (+3.9%) and in the aerospace product and parts industry group (+2.9%). Meanwhile, inventories of machinery (-1.0%) saw the largest decline during the same period.
Chart 2
Total inventories increase in May
The inventory-to-sales ratio edged down from 1.62 in April to 1.61 in May. This ratio measures the time, in months, that would be required to exhaust inventories if sales were to remain at their current level.
Chart 3
The inventory-to-sales ratio edges down in May
Unfilled orders increase
Unfilled orders reached a record high in May, rising 6.7% to $131.5 billion. The increase was driven largely by higher unfilled orders of transportation equipment (+11.6%), led by the aerospace product and parts industry group (+13.4%). The increase in unfilled orders in the Canadian aerospace industry reflects stronger demand for business and commercial aircraft, aircraft parts, and maintenance services.
Chart 4
Unfilled orders increase in May
Capacity utilization rate increases
The capacity utilization rate (not seasonally adjusted) for the total manufacturing sector rose from 80.4% in April to 82.5% in May. The increases were most pronounced in the chemical (+5.3 percentage points), transportation equipment (+3.2 percentage points), and food (+2.5 percentage points) subsectors. These gains were partially offset by a decline of 1.2 percentage points in the capacity utilization rate for the primary metal subsector.
Chart 5
Capacity utilization rate increases in May
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 the page Seasonal adjustment: Concepts and interpretation, 2026.
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 the page Trend-cycle estimation: Concepts, interpretation, and calculation, 2026.
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.
Advance indicator
Statistics Canada will provide an advance estimate of sales in the manufacturing sector for June 2026 on July 24.
Next release
Data from the Monthly Survey of Manufacturing for June 2026 will be released on August 14.
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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