A person walks with shopping bags on Boxing Day in Richmond, B.C., on Dec. 26, 2025. The Canadian Press/Ethan Cairns
Canadian retail sales rose 0.6 percent to $74.3 billion in June, but Statistics Canada’s estimate for July suggested the gain was short lived as sales cooled a month later.
The agency said Friday its advance estimate for July pointed to a decline of 0.8 percent for the month, though it cautioned the figure would be revised.
CIBC senior economist Andrew Grantham said retail sales surged at the end of the second quarter, but appear to have stumbled slightly to start the third.
“However, through the monthly volatility the underlying trend still appears to be gradually upwards and that improvement should continue into next year,” Grantham wrote in a report.
For June, Statistics Canada says sales were up in seven of nine subsectors, including a 2.7 percent increase at general merchandise stores.
Sales at clothing, clothing accessories, shoes, jewelry, luggage and leather goods retailers added 3.1 percent.
Meanwhile, sales at food and beverage retailers fell 0.4 percent as sales at supermarkets and other grocery retailers, except convenience retailers, dropped 0.6 percent in June.
Core retail sales, which exclude gasoline stations and fuel vendors and motor vehicle and parts dealers, gained 1.2 percent in June.
Sales at motor vehicle and parts dealers rose one percent, helped by a 1.5 percent increase at new car dealers, while sales at gasoline stations and fuel vendors fell 4.1 percent.
In volume terms, overall retail sales increased 1.5 percent in June.
TD Bank economist Maria Solovieva called it another solid month for retail sales, with both core spending and real activity rising for a second consecutive time.
“Taken together, the data point to ongoing real personal consumption growth in Q2 despite rising prices,” Solovieva wrote in a report.
The retail sales figures came ahead of Statistics Canada’s reading for gross domestic product for June and the second quarter as a whole that will be released on Aug. 28.
The agency’s preliminary estimate for June suggested growth of 0.2 percent for the month and a 3.4 percent annualized gain in the second quarter.
