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January 23, 2026RETAIL TRADE, NOVEMBER 2025 Monthly (seasonally adjusted, November 2025 vs October 2025)
In Nova Scotia retail trade increased 2.2% to $1.92 billion. Nationally, retail trade increased 1.3% to $70.42 billion. Seven provinces reported increases in retail trade, led by Alberta. Newfoundland and Labrador and New Brunswick reported the steepest monthly declines in retail sales.
Year over year (November 2025 vs November 2024)
Nova Scotia retail trade increased 4.8% in November, compared to the same month last year. Nationally, retail trade was up 3.1% year-over-year. All provinces reported year-over-year increases in retail trade, led by New Brunswick. Newfoundland and Labrador reported the slowest year-over-year growth rate.
Year to date (January-November 2025 vs January-November 2024)
Nova Scotia retail trade increased 3.5% year-to-date compared to the same period last year. Nationally, retail trade was up 4.4% year-to-date. All provinces reported year-to-date increases in retail trade, led by British Columbia. Prince Edward Island reported the slowest growth.
In dollar terms, motor vehicles/parts ($5.470 billion), food/beverage ($3.829 billion) and gas stations ($2.795 billion) contributed the most to Nova Scotia's retail sales in January-November 2025.
The largest increases in percentage terms were reported in clothing, miscellaneous retail and motor vehicles and parts stores. Gas stations and building materials/garden supply stores reported the only declines.
Trends
In recent months, Nova Scotia retail sales have been more volatile than the Canadian average (common for a smaller province). Nova Scotia reported faster growth rates for retail sales in recent months.
E-Commerce
In November 2025, Canada's ecommerce sales decreased 2.8% from the previous month, falling to $4.02 billion, or 5.7% of total retail sales.
Source: Statistics Canada. Table: 20-10-0056-01, Monthly retail trade sales by province and territory (x 1,000)
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