A sustained recovery in business conditions across Alberta and British Columbia was a bright spot for the Canadian manufacturing sector during 2018, driven by greater energy-related demand in both domestic and export markets. However, survey data from IHS Markit revealed that the outperformance narrowed rapidly in the final quarter of last year. There now seems little sign of a turnaround in January, with our latest survey providing a clear signal that manufacturing growth across Alberta and British Columbia has begun to falter.
At 52.2 in January, down from 54.0 in December, the IHS Markit Purchasing