Canadian retailers better placed to weather COVID third wave – RBC Economics
May 4, 2021According to RBC Economics, after bouncing back from a winter slow-down, retail sales are poised to soften again in the spring as the pandemic’s third wave forces another round of restrictions. Retail sales rose 4.8% in February and 2.3% in March according to early estimates from Statistics Canada—figures broadly in line with RBC’s tracking of spending over the period.
RBC expects that momentum to flag in April as new containment measures are imposed, including another round of in-store shopping closures in Ontario.