Portrait of the retail sector in Québec
Retail, an important economic sector for Quebec
With its weight of over $ 23 billion (2012 data), retail represents 6.3% of Quebec’s GDP. It’s almost as much as construction and far more important than mining. As with most sectors of the economy that suffered losses, GDP was reduced by 1.4% in 2020. Retail sales suffered a noticeable deficit during the first wave of the pandemic, but in total they returned to the pre-pandemic level at the end of 2020.
Sales growth in the retail sector in Quebec, from January to December 2020
Source : Statistics Canada. Table 20-10-0008-02 Retail trade sales by industry (x 1,000), 2020
There are more than 33,000 retail establishments spread across all regions of Quebec.
Regional distribution of establishments in the retail sector
Source : Détail Québec, Diagnostic sectoriel : Portrait régional pour l’ensemble du Québec, 2020 (in french)
The retail sector in Quebec is mainly made up of SMEs. More than 50% of companies in this sector have less than ten (10) employees.
Number of businesses in the retail sector, Quebec, 2020
Source : Statistics Canada, Table 33-10-0267-01, Canadian Business Counts, with employees, June 2020
There are 483,530 employees in the retail sector, 291,440 excluding the automotive and food industries.
(source : Détail Québec – in french)
Regional distribution of the workforce in the retail sector
Source : Détail Québec, Diagnostic sectoriel : Portrait régional pour l’ensemble du Québec, 2020 (in french)