Canadian manufacturing sales rise 1.5% in August; Québec hits record

Canadian manufacturing sales rose 1.5% to $79.9 billion in August, while Québec recorded its highest monthly total on record, Statistics Canada reported on October 15.

Sales increased in 12 of 21 subsectors. Primary metals led the gain, up 14.0% to a record $7.6 billion, followed by a 4.4% increase in chemicals. Transportation equipment sales fell 2.6%, including declines in motor vehicles and parts.

The headline increase partly reflected prices: manufacturing sales were unchanged in constant dollars, while the Industrial Product Price Index rose 1.3%.

Québec sales increased 4.0% to a record $21.0 billion, driven by gains in 13 subsectors. Primary-metal sales in the province rose 20.1% to $4.0 billion. Compared with August 2025, total Québec manufacturing sales were up 15.1%.

National inventories edged up 0.2% to $127.7 billion. The inventory-to-sales ratio declined from 1.62 to 1.60, while unfilled orders were unchanged at $134.2 billion.

Source: Statistics Canada, Monthly Survey of Manufacturing, August 2026, released October 15, 2026.

Featured image: Illustrative stock photo of a heavy-industry facility, not a factory measured in the release. Photo by Ant Rozetsky via Unsplash; cropped and resized by West Island Blog.