Renovation Spend Falls Behind As Retail Sales Strengthen

Overall retail sales showed strength in November, but Canadians were not spending their money on renovation material and supplies. Retail sales reached $64.3 billion in November, an increase of six per cent compared with the same month in 2021, says Statistics Canada in its ‘Retail Commodity Survey’ for November 2022. Higher sales were reported in 13 of the 19 commodity classes. The largest contributor to the increase in dollar terms came from higher sales of automotive and household fuels (+23.8 per cent). At the same time, home furnishings declined the most, followed by renovation materials and supplies, with decreases of 3.1 and 1.5 per cent, respectively. The decrease in sales of hardware, tools, and renovation and lawn and garden products (-1.5 per cent) was the sector’s first year-over-year decline in six months. Leading the decline was lower sales of renovation materials and supplies (-4.7 per cent), with lower receipts of lumber and other renovation materials and supplies (-4 per cent) accounting for the majority of the decrease. Higher sales of hardware and tools (+11.5 per cent) served to partially offset the declines.