BRITISH COLUMBIA – Canadian seasonally-adjusted retail sales were largely flat in March, hitting $60.1 billion. Despite declining sales at motor vehicle and parts dealers (-6.4 per cent), higher sales in all other subsectors resulted in no net change month over month. Core retail sales, which strips out gasoline and motor vehicle and parts dealers, increased 1.5 per cent in March. In volume terms, sales were down 1 per cent.
In BC, seasonally-adjusted sales declined 0.5 per cent in March. Compared to the same month last year, retail sales were up 0.6 per cent in the province. In the Greater Vancouver region, sales fell 0.8 per cent month-over-month and were up 6.2 per cent year-over-year.
In March, Canadian e-commerce sales rose 15 per cent to 3 billion, corresponding to 4.9 per cent of retail sales. This percentage remains elevated relative to pre-pandemic levels.
