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April 24, 2026RETAIL TRADE, FEBRUARY 2026 Monthly (seasonally adjusted, February 2026 vs January 2026)
In Nova Scotia retail trade increased 2.3% to $1.97 billion, the fastest rise among provinces. Nationally, retail trade rose 0.7% to $72.06 billion. Every province except Alberta and British Columbia reported increasing retail trade.
Year over year (February 2026 vs February 2025)
Nova Scotia retail trade increased 7.4% in February compared to the same month last year, the fastest rise among provinces. Nationally, retail trade increased 3.8% year-over-year. Every province except Newfoundland and Labrador reported increasing retail trade year-over-year.
Year to date (January-February 2026 vs January-February 2025)
Nova Scotia retail trade increased 4.2% in January-February compared to the same period last year. Nationally, retail trade was up 2.6% year-to-date. All provinces except Newfoundland and Labrador reported year-to-date increases in retail trade. Alberta reported the fastest year-to-date growth in retail trade.
In dollar terms, motor vehicles/parts ($0.835 billion), food/beverage ($0.637 billion), gas stations ($0.559 billion) and general merchandise ($0.445 billion) contributed the most to Nova Scotia's retail sales in January-February 2026.
The largest increases in percentage terms were reported in general merchandise, sports/books/hobbies/music, and motor vehicles/parts. Furniture and health/personal care 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), but have outpaced national retail sales.
E-Commerce
In February 2026, Canada's ecommerce sales declined 0.6% from the previous month, falling to $5.06 billion, or 7.0% 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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