August’s retail numbers tell a story that goes well beyond the headline figures, with All Stores sales up 4.5% YOY, and discretionary spend (All Stores Less Automotive, Food, and Pharmacies) up 2.9% YOY. On the surface, those look like healthy gains. But when you look at what is driving those numbers, and what may be artificially inflating them, the picture becomes considerably more nuanced.

August is traditionally a back-to-school month, one of retail’s most dependable seasonal anchors. Yet there is a growing sense that the large, deliberate back-to-school shopping trip is quietly fading. Consumers are shopping more continuously throughout the year, spreading purchases across a longer window rather than concentrating them in one burst.

Any honest reading of August retail sales must account for the tariff environment. On August 22nd, a 50% U.S. tariff came into effect on a broad range of goods under the Motor Vehicles Proclamation, covering everything from electronics, furniture, and textiles to plastics, leather goods, and chemical products. The immediate effect was twofold: a pull-forward of purchases as consumers rushed to buy before the tariff landed, and then a direct pricing impact for the final days of the month. Both effects likely contributed to inflated revenue figures that do not necessarily reflect stronger consumer demand.

Fuel is another complicating factor. Gasoline stations posted a striking 21.1% YOY revenue increase in August, but fuel inflation ran at 22.8% YOY over the same period. That means Canadians are actually buying less fuel, not more. This matters beyond the gasoline category itself: elevated fuel costs feed through to shipping and logistics across virtually every product category, meaning that revenue gains elsewhere in the data may be partially a reflection of higher input costs being passed along, rather than genuine volume growth.

Health and Personal Care Stores were up 12.5% YOY in August and 12.2% YTD, consistently one of the strongest-performing categories in Canadian retail in 2026. The question worth asking is no longer whether this category is growing, but whether it can sustain this pace.

A significant driver is the GLP-1 effect. Health Canada’s approval of the first generic semaglutide injection in April 2026 made Canada the first major market globally where a generic version of Ozempic became legally available. At roughly $100/month, accessibility has expanded dramatically, and the market impact has been swift. Loblaw (owner of Shoppers Drug Mart and Pharmaprix) reported approximately a 40% surge in GLP-1 sales across each of its last two quarters, with category-wide revenue gains likely approaching $1 billion above 2025 levels for the full year.

Beyond pharmaceuticals, expanded pharmacist prescribing authority and the continued growth of large pharmacy chain footprints are broadening the category’s reach. And in beauty, international brands and cultural trends, Korean skincare prominent among them,  are finding strong Canadian audiences, amplified by social media and supported by an increasingly diverse retail landscape.

What JCWG Is Watching

As we move into the final stretch of 2026, several questions are front of mind:

• With Black Friday falling in November and holiday creep well underway, how early will Canadian consumers begin their holiday spending, and will promotional intensity compress margins further?
• Interest rates have been moving upward. At what point does that meaningfully suppress discretionary spending, and which categories absorb the impact first?
• Tariffs and fuel costs continue to weigh on the retail environment. With U.S. midterm elections taking place today (at the time of writing), will the political landscape shift in ways that bring some relief, or introduce new uncertainty?
• How has YOUR retail strategy changed with holiday creep?

Reach out to the JCWG team for support with your retail strategy!

Retail Sales by Product Category, Same Month Comparison

Sales for the Month of August	Aug-26	Aug-25	YOY
All Stores	76,338,032	73,046,640	4.51%
Motor Vehicle and Parts Dealers	20,306,080	19,664,892	3.26%
Gasoline Stations	8,010,150	6,613,945	21.11%
All Stores Less Automotive	48,021,802	46,767,803	2.68%
Food and Beverage Stores	13,729,986	13,998,215	-1.92%
Supermarkets and Other Grocery Stores*	9,582,193	9,770,388	-1.93%
Convenience Stores	711,735	742,832	-4.19%
Specialty Food Stores	1,053,618	1,046,814	0.65%
Beer, Wine and Liquor Stores	2,382,440	2,438,181	-2.29%
Health and Personal Care Stores	6,600,538	5,867,159	12.50%
All Stores Less Automotive, Food, and Pharmacies	27,691,278	26,902,429	2.93%
General Merchandise Stores	11,058,944	10,531,860	5.00%
Furniture, Home Furnishings, Electronic and Appliance Stores	3,583,427	3,648,203	-1.78%
Furniture Stores	1,278,625	1,266,808	0.93%
Home Furnishings Stores	774,918	752,605	2.96%
Electronics and Appliance Stores	1,529,884	1,628,790	-6.07%
Clothing and Accessories Stores	4,309,782	4,249,940	1.41%
Clothing Stores	3,344,895	3,308,997	1.08%
Shoe Stores	485,031	507,992	-4.52%
Jewellery, Luggage and Leather Goods Stores	479,856	432,950	10.83%
Sporting Goods, Hobby, Book and Music Stores	4,430,912	4,283,295	3.45%
Building Material and Garden Equipment	4,308,214	4,189,132	2.84%
Miscellaneous Store Retailers	2,880,108	2,804,294	2.70%
Cannabis Retailers	520,441	503,090	3.45%
Foodservices and Drinking Places	9,692,867	9,358,175	3.58%

Retail Sales by Store Category, Year to Date Comparison

Year-to-Date Sales Ending August	Aug-26	Aug-25	YTD
All Stores	577,131,699	553,607,071	4.25%
Motor Vehicle and Parts Dealers	158,072,946	155,658,778	1.55%
Gasoline Stations	57,710,705	50,090,421	15.21%
All Stores Less Automotive	361,348,048	347,857,872	3.88%
Food and Beverage Stores	105,497,432	104,653,571	0.81%
Supermarkets and Other Grocery Stores*	75,752,069	74,926,381	1.10%
Convenience Stores	5,367,865	5,481,112	-2.07%
Specialty Food Stores	7,847,320	7,643,495	2.67%
Beer, Wine and Liquor Stores	16,530,177	16,602,583	-0.44%
Health and Personal Care Stores	51,632,308	46,018,900	12.20%
All Stores Less Automotive, Food, and Pharmacies	204,218,308	197,185,401	3.57%
General Merchandise Stores	84,735,168	79,041,920	7.20%
Furniture, Home Furnishings, Electronic and Appliance Stores	25,529,718	27,042,026	-5.59%
Furniture Stores	9,235,293	9,442,921	-2.20%
Home Furnishings Stores	5,565,003	5,664,830	-1.76%
Electronics and Appliance Stores	10,729,419	11,934,275	-10.10%
Clothing and Accessories Stores	29,321,275	28,087,283	4.39%
Clothing Stores	22,861,735	21,881,541	4.48%
Shoe Stores	2,995,614	3,059,092	-2.08%
Jewellery, Luggage and Leather Goods Stores	3,463,925	3,146,652	10.08%
Sporting Goods, Hobby, Book and Music Stores	33,018,231	31,039,829	6.37%
Building Material and Garden Equipment	31,613,918	31,974,343	-1.13%
Miscellaneous Store Retailers	22,388,586	20,898,534	7.13%
Cannabis Retailers	3,931,039	3,711,262	5.92%
Foodservices and Drinking Places	69,765,173	67,086,522	3.99%

Ecommerce Sales

	Aug-26	Aug-25
Ecommerce Sales, YTD	39,790,718	36,901,899	7.83%
Ecommerce Sales, YOY	5,267,648	4,561,453	15.48%

Regional Sales, Year to Date Comparison

Region	Year-to-Date, 2026	Year-to-Date, 2025	YTD
British Columbia	77,530,307	70,053,836	10.67%
Vancouver	38,413,881	38,522,843	-0.28%
Alberta	75,339,023	70,053,836	7.54%
Prairies*	37,508,141	36,199,546	3.61%
Ontario	218,156,881	208,888,784	4.44%
Toronto	98,290,173	94,723,899	3.76%
Québec	126,887,424	122,696,506	3.42%
Montréal	61,612,978	60,449,393	1.92%
Atlantic Canada	39,654,954	37,642,029	5.35%
Territories	2,054,968	1,971,377	4.24%

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