November 2020 year-to-date retail trade was down by -1.4% over the same period in 2019.

• Sub-sectors that posted increases were: Electronics and appliance stores (4.1%), Building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers (10.8%), Health and personal care stores (9.2%), Grocery stores (7.1%), Beer, wine and liquor stores (16.5%), General merchandise stores (4.2%), and All other (6.7%).
• Sub-sectors that posted declines were: New car dealers (-8.4%), Used car dealers (-20.4%), Gasoline stations (-17.7%), Furniture and home furnishings stores (-1.5%), Clothing and clothing accessories stores (-22.2%), and Sporting goods, hobby, book and music stores (-9.1%).

November 2020 year-to-date new motor vehicle (units) sales were down -16.6% from November 2019. New minivans, sport-utility vehicles, light and heavy trucks, vans and buses sales were down -14.2% while New passenger cars sales were also down -33.7%.

November 2020 year-to-date restaurant receipts were down -17.7% over the same period in 2019. Within restaurant receipts all sub-categories saw declines: Special food services (-33.8%), Drinking places (alcoholic beverages) (-31.7%), Full-service restaurants (-30.7%), and Limited-service eating places (-4.6%).

November 2020 year-to-date manufacturing sales were down by -15.3% over the same period in 2019.

• Sub-sectors that posted increases were: Machinery manufacturing sales (8.3%).
• Sub-sectors that posted decreases were: Food manufacturing sales (-14.3%), Fabricated metal product manufacturing sales (-3.7%), and All other Manufacturing sales (-20.4%). 

November 2020 year-to-date wholesale trade was up 1.5% over the same period in 2019.

• Sub-sectors that posted increases were: Farm product merchant wholesalers (6.0%), Food, beverage and tobacco merchant wholesalers (16.6%), Machinery, equipment and supplies merchant wholesalers (0.7%), and All other (1.3%).
• Sub-sectors that posted declines were: Building material and supplies merchant wholesalers (-5.9%).

Led by Farm, fishing and intermediate food products, total International merchandise exports were up 2.5% year-to-date December 2020 over December 2019. 

• Sub-sectors that posted increases were: Farm, fishing and intermediate food products (31.6%), Forestry products and building and packaging materials (7.3%), Industrial machinery, equipment and parts (7.3%), Electronic and electrical equipment and parts (24.8%), Motor vehicles and parts (1.5%), and Consumer goods (11.5%). 
• Sub-sectors that posted decreases were: Energy products (-33.5%), Metal ores and non-metallic minerals (-7.8%), Metal and non-metallic mineral products (-59.9%), Basic and industrial chemical, plastic and rubber products (-26.4%), Aircraft and other transportation equipment and parts (-16.9%), and Special transactions (-10.2%).

Despite robust residential construction data, year-to-date January 2021 construction employment was down -1,700  positions or -4.4 % from the same period in 2020.

Driven by low inventories, low interest rates, and a loosening of mortgage restrictions, total year-to-date housing starts in January 2021 were up by 83 units or 34.2% over the same period in 2020.

• Year-to-date increases were observed in: singles (14 units or 23.7%), semi-detached (10 units or 500.0%), apartment and other types (63 units or 41.2%).
• Year-to-date declines were limited to row (-4 units or -13.8%).

December 2020 year-to-date building permits were down -12.8%  over the same period in 2019.

• Sub-sectors that posted increases were limited to: residential (22.9%).
• Sub-sectors that posted declines were: industrial (-33.2%), commercial (-37.8%), and institutional and governmental (-52.3%).

January 2021 year-to-date employment in Information, culture and recreation was down -9,300 positions or -42.3% over the same period in 2020.

November 2020 year-to-date average weekly earnings in Information and cultural industries was up 5.3%.

2020 Q4 Provincial population was up 0.1% over 2019 Q4 to 1,177,884. It should be noted that Q4 2020 population was down by 797 persons from Q3 2020. This follows on the heels of a 937 person population drop between Q3 and Q2 2020. Contributing to this decline was the pandemic related drop in international in-migration while net inter-provincial migration has been negative every quarter since Q2 2013.

In 3 dramatic rate cuts on March 4th, March 13th, and March 27th, the Bank of Canada cut its benchmark interest rate to 0.25%. The Central Bank initially cut its rate to 1.25% at a previously scheduled meeting on March 4th to help counteract the impact of COVID-19. The unscheduled rate decisions on March 13th and 27th shaved a further percentage point from the rate as a proactive measure to boost the economy amid pandemic fears. The Bank of Canada will likely keep its benchmark rate near zero in the medium term to spur post pandemic economic activity.

According to the Conference Board of Canada, in its pre-pandemic Winter 2020 forecast, the forecast for 2020 is for 1% growth in real GDP and 1.7% in 2021. In its Spring 2020 forecast, accounting for pandemic impacts, the Conference Board predicted a 5% decline in the province's GDP in 2020, with employment in the province expected to fall by 2.8%. The report expects both GDP and employment to rebound in 2021, by 5.4% and 2.9%, respectively.