Real gross domestic product (GDP) in Canada rose 0.5 per cent in January, following a slight contraction (-0.1 per cent) in December. Both goods-producing (+0.4%) and services-producing (+0.6%) industries were up in January, as 17 of 20 industrial sectors posted increases, reported Statistics Canada on Friday.
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“Advance information indicates that real GDP increased 0.3 per cent in February. Increases in the mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction, manufacturing, and finance and insurance sectors were slightly offset by decreases in construction, wholesale trade, and accommodation and food services,” said the federal agency.
“Many of the main drivers of growth in January were also the largest contributors to the December decline. In January, the wholesale trade, transportation and warehousing, and mining, quarrying and oil and gas extraction sectors all rebounded from declines recorded in the previous month. After remaining relatively flat in the second half of 2022, activity in accommodation and food services was also among the top contributors to growth in January, led by food services and drinking places.”
StatsCan said mining, quarrying and oil and gas extraction expanded 1.1 per cent in January after the sector stepped back 3.3 per cent in December, due in part to unplanned maintenance. An oil spill in Kansas, United States impacted the supply of Canadian crude oil to the Keystone export pipeline in December.
“Oil and gas extraction rose 1.1 per cent in January, led by oil sands extraction (+1.8 per cent) as extraction and exports of crude bitumen increased. Still, unplanned upgrader maintenance constrained production of upgraded synthetic oil, which tempered the overall growth in the oil and gas extraction subsector. Oil and gas extraction (except oil sands) was essentially unchanged in January, as an increase in natural gas production was offset by a decrease in conventional crude oil production, primarily due to lower offshore production in Newfoundland and Labrador and Saskatchewan,” it said.
“Mining and quarrying (excluding oil and gas extraction) rose 1.0 per cent in January, led by a sharp increase in coal mining (+22.5 per cent) as exports, particularly to China, rose. Declines in non-metallic mineral mining and quarrying (-2.0 per cent) and metal ore mining (-0.5 per cent) partially offset increases in the sector.”
(Mario Toneguzzi is Managing Editor of Canada’s Podcast. He has more than 40 years of experience as a daily newspaper writer, columnist, and editor. He worked for 35 years at the Calgary Herald, covering sports, crime, politics, health, faith, city and breaking news, and business. He works as well as a freelance writer for several national publications and as a consultant in communications and media relations/training. Mario was named in 2021 as one of the Top 10 Business Journalists in the World by PR News – the only Canadian to make the list)
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