From July to August, retail sales in Saskatchewan dropped by 2.7 per cent according to Statistics Canada. The report said this was primarily driven by slowing vehicle and auto part sales.
Looking back to July, Regina Chamber of Commerce CEO John Hopkins said he believes the decline can be attributed to uncertainty around the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) renegotiations, and, at that point, dry summer hurting the growing season and questions surrounding pipeline projects like the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.
“All of those things combined create a lot of instability. So when you’re trying to make a decision on whether you’re going to buy a truck or what it might be, you’re probably going to stop and think maybe not right now,” he said.
Saskatchewan’s retail sales are lagging compared to the rest of Canada. The Statistics Canada report showed the province saw 0.4 per cent growth from August 2017 to August 2018.
Among the provinces, it’s the second slowest growth rate. Newfoundland and Labrador was the lowest at negative 0.1 per cent. Prince Edward Island saw the strongest retail growth, 5.1 per cent.
Hopkins is not too surprised by this, saying retail has been struggling in western Canada especially on big ticket items. In addition to ongoing issues of getting resources to tidewater, he attributed this to the oil price differential between American and Canadian crude.
However, he is cautiously optimistic about outlook for the rest of the year. He said there is more activity in the potash market and positive signs in the agricultural market.
“Still optimistic the future is going to be bright for Saskatchewan,” Hopkins said.
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