The S&P Global Canada Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) reached 52.2 in December, its best result since February 2023, when it came in at 52.4. The November reading was 52.0.
December is the fourth consecutive month in which Canadian manufacturers have achieved growth, indicated by any result above 50. The data are based on monthly surveys of executives, or panellists.
“Canada’s manufacturing sector enjoyed a relatively positive end to 2024, with overall growth ticking up to its best level in nearly two years,” said Paul Smith, economics director at S&P Global Market Intelligence. “Panellists reported a general uplift in demand and hinted at some sales growth to U.S. clients given the expectation that president-elect Trump will impose tariffs on Canadian goods in 2025.”
Smith cautioned that “the shape and extent of these tariffs remains unknown and led to considerable uncertainty amongst firms when assessing the outlook.”
The December result should be seen in the context of strikes at Canada Post and ports in Montreal and Vancouver last fall, all of which slowed down manufacturing and shipping.
“[B]ottlenecks in domestic supply chains remained prevalent in December,” Smith said. “The result was a noticeable lengthening of vendor delivery times and a record increase in inventories of finished goods in December.”
Internationally, the composite J.P. Morgan Global Manufacturing PMI came in at 49.6 in December, down from 50.0 the previous month. The index is calculated by J.P. Morgan and S&P Global Market Intelligence, with the Institute for Supply Management and the International Federation of Purchasing and Supply Management.
It’s the fifth time the index has fallen in the last six months.