Canada’s retail sales rose for the fifth straight month in May as consumers showed resilience across the board despite rising energy prices .

Total retail sales increased by one per cent from April to $73.7 billion, data published by Statistics Canada Thursday showed. In volume terms, sales were up 0.3 per cent month over month.

Dollar sales at gas stations and fuel vendors saw the largest increase in May, up 3.1 per cent. In volume terms, however, sales at these vendors fell 2.7 per cent

Core retail sales, which exclude gasoline and motor vehicle sales, rose by 0.9 per cent in May after a 0.7 per cent decline in April. General merchandise retailers led the increase, with sales up one per cent, the first increase in three months.

This was followed by sales at sporting goods, hobby, musical instrument, book and miscellaneous retailers, which edged up by 1.8 per cent, the first gain in three months.

Sales at food and beverage retailers were also up 0.5 per cent in May due to higher sales at supermarkets and other grocery retailers.

Flash estimates for June suggest sales increased by 0.4 per cent, which would mark the sixth consecutive month of retail sale gains. However, Statistics Canada officials said that figure could be revised.

“ Consumer spending remained resilient in the face of the global oil price shock in May.… The advance was in line with StatCan’s flash estimate and our expectations, and supported by another large increase in pump prices,” said Michael Davenport, senior Canada economist at Oxford Economics, in a note on Thursday.

“(June’s estimate) likely reflects a bump in spending from the federal grocery and essentials benefit, which has long been factored into our forecast.”

Davenport added that the difference between total retail sales and volume sales (0.7 percentage points) can be attributed to inflation and higher prices. However, he noted that the gasoline and fuel subsector was the only one to post a decline in sales volumes.

“After a temporary boost from the federal grocery benefit in Q3, we expect consumer outlays will continue to grow albeit at a soft pace amid a weak labour market and shrinking population,” he said.

Andrew Grantham, executive director and senior economist for CIBC Capital Markets, said Canadian retail sales volumes appear to have held up “better than expected” in the second quarter of 2026 despite high gasoline prices and stagnant population growth.

The “modest rebound” in May, along with potential gains in June, should offset declines seen earlier in the year and means goods consumption is broadly flat compared with the first quarter of 2026, he said.

“Overall, retail sales appear to have ended the second quarter on a positive note, meaning that for Q2 as a whole, goods consumption is unlikely to be the drag on (gross domestic product) that it earlier appeared it would be,” Grantham wrote in a note on Thursday morning.

However, both Davenport and Grantham warned that a recent resurgence in oil prices, along with new U.S. tariffs, will add further downside risk to consumer spending in the near term.

Brent crude jumped to $100 per barrel on Thursday, a level that hasn’t been reached for nearly two months, after Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen attacked two Saudi Arabian oil tankers in the Red Sea. According to data from CAA , average gas prices across Canada reached $1.77 per litre on Thursday, higher than a month ago when average gas prices were $160.5 per litre. The highest price in the past year was recorded on

May 6, when average gas prices reached $190.4 per litre.

“Looking ahead, enhanced household benefits were expected to support increased spending in the second half of the year, although the rebound seen recently in gasoline prices will at least partly offset that and start to restrict any pick up in discretionary spending,” Grantham wrote in a note on Thursday.

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