Canada Industrial Research Brief

Manufacturing losses narrow. Manufacturing activity stabilized in May, as USMCA-compliant exports continued to enjoy preferential treatment. Although total sales fell by 0.9 per cent month over month, this weakness was almost entirely due to an 8.4 per cent drop in sales of petroleum and coal products. The energy industry underperformed primarily because of several shutdowns across refineries in Quebec, Alberta, Ontario and Saskatchewan. Excluding this lagging sector, the decline in total sales narrowed to just 0.1 per cent – a significant improvement from April’s 1.7 per cent drop. Despite still-sluggish overall sales, shipments of aerospace products and parts – one of the sectors least affected by tariffs – rose 6.9 per cent, reaching the second-highest level on record.