This represents a significant proportion of spin-off economic activity
Housing renovation supplies have accounted for a significant chunk of Canadians’ retail expenses in recent months, new figures from Statistics Canada indicate.
Observers have previously noted that with the COVID-19 pandemic putting a hard stop on most households’ ancillary spending, the resulting savings, combined with pent-up demand, are likely to rejuvenate the national economy over the next year or so.
Read more: Canadians’ savings mounting – to the tune of $100 billion
In February, Canadians spent an estimated $4.21 billion on home building and garden supplies, representing increases of 3.5% monthly and 29% annually.
“The annual growth is the highest of any of the major components [of February’s overall retail spending],” Better Dwelling said in its analysis of the StatsCan numbers. “The annual growth also represents 31.05% of core retail growth.”
Further spin-off activity was apparent in furniture spending, the analysis added.
“When building supplies are combined with furniture, it adds up to a lot of spending on homes,” Better Dwelling said. “Combined spending in these categories works out to 16.64% of retail spending in February. The categories managed to capture 1.67 more points of retail spending than a year before.”
Core retail spending, excluding motor vehicles/parts and gasoline, posted $35.8 billion in economic activity in February.
Total retail sales across Canada reached $55.1 billion in February, up by 4.8% from the month prior and by 6% from the same month last year, just before the pandemic struck.
