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June 19, 2026RETAIL TRADE, APRIL 2026 Monthly (seasonally adjusted, April 2026 vs March 2026)
In Nova Scotia retail trade increased 0.7% to $1.99 billion. Nationally, retail trade rose 0.5% to $73.03 billion. Six provinces reported increasing retail trade, led by Alberta. The fastest decline was in Manitoba.
Year over year (April 2026 vs April 2025)
Nova Scotia retail trade increased 6.3% in April compared to the same month last year. Nationally, retail trade increased 3.7% year-over-year. Every province except Saskatchewan reported increasing retail trade year-over-year, led by Alberta.
Year to date (January-April 2026 vs January-April 2025)
Nova Scotia retail trade increased 4.7% in January-April compared to the same period last year. Nationally, retail trade was up 3.1% year-to-date. All provinces reported year-to-date increases in retail trade, led by Alberta.
In dollar terms, motor vehicles/parts ($1.953 billion), food/beverage ($1.282 billion), gas stations ($1.216 billion) and general merchandise ($0.954 billion) contributed the most to Nova Scotia's retail sales in January-April 2026.
The largest increases in percentage terms were reported in gas stations followed by general merchandise. Furniture reported the largest year-to-date decline in retail sales.
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 April 2026, Canada's e-commerce sales decreased 1.2% from the previous month, to $5.09 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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