Documentation – Retail Pulse Dashboard
May 15, 2023Starting 2023, the Documentation shows the sources for each dashboard visualization and includes explanatory notes as well as corrections made. A reminder that the Dashboard (and this documentation) is for general information only, that we provide no guarantee of accuracy or completeness and that you should seek expert advice for any material decisions. For more information, see the disclaimer at the bottom of this page and each Dashboard page.
Sources
Overview – Sources
Retail Sales
- Statistics Canada. Table 20-10-0056-01 Monthly retail trade sales by province and territory (x 1,000)
Retail Jobs
- Statistics Canada. Table 14-10-0022-01 Labour force characteristics by industry, monthly, unadjusted for seasonality (x 1,000)
Retail GDP
- Statistics Canada. Table 36-10-0434-01 Gross domestic product (GDP) at basic prices, by industry, monthly (x 1,000,000)
Retail Sales Volume Index
- Moneris
Foot Traffic
- Environics
Web Visits
- Environics
Environics Demographics
- Environics
Retail Sales – Sources
Top sales metric, Regional Highlights and Regional Subsector Highlights
- Statistics Canada. Table 20-10-0056-01 Monthly retail trade sales by province and territory (x 1,000)
E-commerce sales
- Statistics Canada. Table 20-10-0056-01 Monthly retail trade sales by province and territory (x 1,000)
Total retail sales vs. 2019
- Statistics Canada. Table 20-10-0056-01 Monthly retail trade sales by province and territory (x 1,000)
Restaurant sales
- Statistics Canada. Table 21-10-0019-01 Monthly survey of food services and drinking places (x 1,000)
Retail sales volume growth
- Statistics Canada. Table 20-10-0067-01 Monthly retail sales, price, and volume, seasonally adjusted (x 1,000,000)
Retail Jobs – Sources
Retail Jobs
- Statistics Canada. Table 14-10-0022-01 Labour force characteristics by industry, monthly, unadjusted for seasonality (x 1,000)
Regional Highlights
- Statistics Canada. Table 14-10-0022-01 Labour force characteristics by industry, monthly, unadjusted for seasonality (x 1,000)
Regional Subsector Highlights
Retail jobs % of total
- Statistics Canada. Table 14-10-0022-01 Labour force characteristics by industry, monthly, unadjusted for seasonality (x 1,000)
Average hourly earnings
- Statistics Canada. Table 14-10-0205-01 Average hourly earnings for employees paid by the hour, by industry, monthly, unadjusted for seasonality
Average weekly earnings
- Statistics Canada. Table 14-10-0203-01 Average weekly earnings by industry, monthly, unadjusted for seasonality
Total compensation for all jobs
- Statistics Canada. Table 36-10-0489-01 Labour statistics consistent with the System of National Accounts (SNA), by job category and industry
Total compensation per job
- Statistics Canada. Table 36-10-0489-01 Labour statistics consistent with the System of National Accounts (SNA), by job category and industry
Total compensation per hour worked
- Statistics Canada. Table 36-10-0489-01 Labour statistics consistent with the System of National Accounts (SNA), by job category and industry
Job vacancy rate
- Statistics Canada. Table 14-10-0372-01 Job vacancies, payroll employees, and job vacancy rate by industry sector, monthly, unadjusted for seasonality
Managerial, Sales and Services Earnings
- Statistics Canada. Table 14-10-0429-01 Hourly wage distributions by occupation, monthly, unadjusted for seasonality
Managerial, Sales and Services Jobs
- Statistics Canada. Table 14-10-0429-01 Hourly wage distributions by occupation, monthly, unadjusted for seasonality
Economy – Sources
Retail GDP
- Statistics Canada. Table 36-10-0434-01 Gross domestic product (GDP) at basic prices, by industry, monthly (x 1,000,000)
Regional Highlights
- Statistics Canada. Table 36-10-0402-01 Gross domestic product (GDP) at basic prices, by industry, provinces and territories (x 1,000,000)
Regional Subsector Highlights
- Statistics Canada. Table 36-10-0434-01 Gross domestic product (GDP) at basic prices, by industry, monthly (x 1,000,000)
Retail GDP %
- Statistics Canada. Table 36-10-0434-01 Gross domestic product (GDP) at basic prices, by industry, monthly (x 1,000,000)
Consumer Price Index
- Statistics Canada. Table 18-10-0004-01 Consumer Price Index, monthly, not seasonally adjusted
Capital Expenditure
- Statistics Canada. Table 34-10-0036-01 Capital and repair expenditures, non-residential tangible assets by industry (x 1,000,000)
Active Retail Businesses
- Statistics Canada. Table 33-10-0270-01 Experimental estimates for business openings and closures for Canada, provinces and territories, census metropolitan areas, seasonally adjusted
Restaurant bookings
- Open Table Reservations
USD Exchange rate
- Bank of Canada US-Canada Daily Exchange Rate
Retail Trade Business Location Counts
- Statistics Canada. Table 33-10-0661-01 Canadian Business Counts, with employees, December 2022 and subsequent tables.
Consumer Spending – Sources
- Moneris
Consumer Behaviours – Sources
- Environics
Explanatory Notes
Retail Sales – Notes
Formula for core retail is Retail Trade [44-45] – Motor vehicle and parts dealers [441] – Gasoline stations and fuel vendors [457]
Retail Jobs – Notes
The dashboard jobs data draws mainly from two monthly Statistics Canada surveys that measure employment levels and trends: the Labour Force Survey (LFS), often called the household survey, and the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours (SEPH), often referred to as the payroll or establishment survey. The top widget, regional highlights and regional subsector highlights use unadjusted retail jobs data from these two releases. Because the LFS has a broader definition of employment than the SEPH, the LFS employment level exceeds the SEPH employment level. For more information on the differences between SEPH and LFS jobs information, view Section 8 of Statistics Canada’s 2020 paper.
The total compensation data is sourced differently. It is consistent with the System of National Accounts (SNA) and sourced through Labour Productivity Measures – Provinces and Territories (Annual). In these visualizations, the total compensation for all jobs consists of all payments in cash or in kind made by domestic producers to workers for services rendered. It includes labour income for paid workers and imputed labour income for self-employed workers. The total compensation per job is the ratio between total compensation paid for all jobs, and the total number of jobs. The total compensation per hour worked is the ratio between total compensation for all jobs, and the number of hours worked.
The managerial, sales and services data is via the LFS and pulls NOC codes 60 and 62. Specifically, Middle management occupations in retail and wholesale trade and customer services (60) and Retail sales and service supervisors and specialized occupations in sales and services (62).
Retail Economy – Notes
The Active Retail Businesses visualization counts active retail business establishments. The Retail Trade Business Location Counts visualization counts retail locations. Neither visualization can accurately be described as a count of retail ‘businesses,’ assuming that ‘business’ is said to mean what it generally means in common parlance, i.e., a going concern owned by someone.
In the Active Retail Businesses visualization, the statistical unit of measures used is the business establishment, which represents a unit of production, such as a factory, store, or head office. By comparison, an enterprise may have many establishments that might operate in different regions and industries.
In the Retail Trade Business Location Counts visualization, businesses are counted according to the number of “statistical locations” they have. For example, a retail business with 10 stores and a head office is counted 11 times in the Canadian business counts. The data includes all active Canadian locations with employees. The visualization date references the start period for this dataset, which is usually released semiannually in June and December.
For more information, see Statistics Canada’s guide, which includes Business Register data definitions.
Corrections
2023
January – March/April retail sales data had some incorrect totals in the Retail Sales visualizations.
April GDP and May Jobs visualizations (Overview and Regional Highlights) incorrectly featured Year to Date totals that summed monthly GDP and Jobs numbers for previous months, a calculation that these metrics do not support.
