The Canadian economy recorded a slight growth of 0.3 percent in May. The substantial decline in oil and gas production due to wildfires was offset by growth in the service-producing industries sector.

Statistics Canada, which monitors the performance of various industrial sectors to prepare its data, reported that more than half of all industries recorded growth. In contrast, one of the country's main industrial sectors, namely mining, quarrying, oil, and gas, experienced a contraction as it was "severely affected" by wildfires, recording a decline of 2.1 percent in May.

The government agency noted that this was the first decline for this sector in five months and the largest of its kind since August 2020.

Extraction of oil and gas also decreased by 3.6 percent during May due to the wildfires in Alberta. This was the largest decline since April 2020. The agency stated in its report released today, "The fires primarily impacted facilities in the western parts of the province located in Western Canada. Mining, oil, and gas companies there reduced their activities.

Other Industries:

The decline in residential building construction posed another burden on growth, as this activity decreased by 1.8 percent, marking the first decline in the construction sector in five months in the country.

On another note, the wholesale and manufacturing sectors rebounded as previous supply chain bottlenecks continued to ease.

The modest economic growth of 0.3 percent for May is partially attributed to the recovery in the public administration sector, where a large and prolonged strike by public sector employees ended at the end of April.

This economic growth figure of 0.3 percent for May is slightly lower than the previous expectations of Statistics Canada, which estimated that the economy would grow by 0.4 percent for this month.