Canadian Retail Commodity Sales Rise 5.0% to C$77.8 Billion in July

Canadian retail commodity sales reached C$77.8 billion in July 2026, an increase of 5.0% from a year earlier, Statistics Canada reported Thursday. Sales were higher in 14 of the 18 commodity classes covered by the survey, although the strongest contribution in dollar terms came from fuel purchases during a period of sharply higher gasoline prices.

The figures show growth across much of the retail product market rather than a uniform increase in the amount of merchandise Canadians bought. Automotive and household fuels led the dollar gains, while spending on food and beverages and motor vehicles also increased. Those categories followed different patterns, particularly when new and used vehicle sales are separated.

The annual growth rate was slower than June’s 7.2%, when 17 of the 18 classes recorded increases. Both comparisons are with the same month of the previous year, not with the preceding month. That distinction matters because the commodity survey is not seasonally adjusted, and changes in prices can also affect the reported dollar values.

Fuel sales lead in dollar terms as pump prices climb

Sales of automotive and household fuels jumped 23.7% from July 2025, the largest increase in dollar terms among the commodity classes. Within that group, automotive fuel sales rose 23.0%. Statistics Canada specifically pointed to higher prices at the pump in its July Retail Commodity Survey release.

That price effect is central to interpreting the headline. The survey measures the value of products sold, so more dollars spent on fuel do not necessarily mean motorists purchased a comparable increase in litres. The release does not separate the July fuel-sales gain into price and quantity components, and it would be misleading to treat the full 23.0% rise as evidence of stronger physical demand.

A separate Statistics Canada inflation report provides context for the pressure on spending. Consumer gasoline prices were 25.7% higher in July than a year earlier, accelerating from a 20.5% annual increase in June. Overall consumer prices rose 3.0% over the 12 months to July. The gasoline price index and the retail fuel-sales series are different measures, so their percentage changes cannot simply be subtracted to calculate how many litres were sold.

Fuel had already stood out in the preceding commodity releases. Automotive and household fuel sales increased 25.6% year over year in June and 35.5% in May. The July figure therefore extends a period in which fuel spending rose much faster than the overall value of retail commodities, even though the pace of annual growth in the fuel category moderated from the earlier readings.

Fresh food lifts grocery sales, while vehicle categories diverge

Sales of food and beverages increased 3.8% in July. Fresh food, up 4.0%, drove the advance in that broader class, according to Statistics Canada. Fresh meat and poultry recorded an 8.6% increase and contributed the largest dollar gain within the fresh-food figures identified in the release.

The figures show where additional retail dollars were recorded, but they are not a direct measure of how much food went into shopping baskets. In July, Statistics Canada’s Consumer Price Index showed that prices for food purchased from stores were 3.1% higher than a year earlier. Grocery inflation had slowed from 3.9% in June, yet prices were still rising. Product-sales growth and consumer-price inflation cover different concepts and cannot be used on their own to derive a precise change in quantities purchased.

Motor vehicle sales were up 2.8% from July 2025, but the result concealed a divide between vehicle types. Sales of new motor vehicles grew 6.0%, whereas used motor vehicle sales fell 1.8%. The contrast means the overall increase should not be interpreted as equally strong demand throughout the automotive market.

June’s vehicle figures had been stronger on the same year-over-year basis: total motor vehicle sales rose 7.7%, new vehicles were up 11.7% and used vehicles gained 2.0%. By July, the used-vehicle category had moved into negative territory, and the annual growth rate for new vehicles had also slowed. These are changes in reported sales values, not a verified count of vehicles sold.

Together, the food and vehicle results illustrate why a single national growth rate can obscure important differences among products. The survey provides a breakdown of retail spending by what customers purchased, rather than simply by the kind of store making the sale. Its breadth measure, 14 growing classes out of 18, indicates that gains were common in July, though less widespread than in June.

The annual commodity gain contrasts with weaker monthly retail trade

July’s positive year-over-year commodity figure sits alongside a softer reading from Statistics Canada’s separate Monthly Retail Trade Survey. On September 24, the agency reported that seasonally adjusted retail sales fell 0.7% from June to C$73.7 billion. Sales declined in eight of nine retail subsectors, and core retail sales, which exclude gasoline stations and fuel vendors as well as motor vehicle and parts dealers, also fell 0.7%.

In volume terms, the monthly retail trade report showed a 1.1% decline. That inflation-adjusted result offers a different perspective from July’s 5.0% increase in the unadjusted dollar value of retail commodities compared with a year earlier. Both can be accurate: they cover different comparisons, and the commodity and trade releases organize the data differently.

The Retail Commodity Survey uses data from businesses surveyed for monthly retail trade but classifies sales by product. The monthly trade release generally describes sales by retailer industry and emphasizes seasonally adjusted month-to-month movements. Readers should therefore not compare the C$77.8 billion commodity total with the C$73.7 billion seasonally adjusted trade total as though they were interchangeable measures of the same reporting basis.

Another official indicator reinforces the distinction between spending values and economic activity. Statistics Canada’s July gross domestic product report found that output in the retail trade sector contracted 1.0% during the month, largely reversing June’s increase. That industry-output estimate measures a different aspect of retail activity and does not negate the annual increase in the nominal value of commodity sales.

For August, the Monthly Retail Trade Survey’s preliminary estimate points to a 4.8% year-over-year increase in unadjusted total retail sales. Statistics Canada cautioned that the early figure is subject to revision. It is not an August breakdown of commodity sales, and it does not establish whether fuel, food or vehicle purchases followed July’s pattern.

Statistics Canada has scheduled its August retail trade release for October 23. Until fuller August data are available, July’s commodity figures establish an increase in the dollar value of goods sold across most product classes, with fuel prices playing an especially prominent role in the result.