According to Statistics Canada, Canadian industries operated at 80.9 percent of their production capacity in the first quarter, down from 81.8 percent in the previous quarter. This was the third consecutive quarterly decline.
The mining, quarrying and oil and gas extraction sector was the main source of this decline. Lower capacity utilization in mining, quarrying and oil and gas extraction, in manufacturing, and in forestry and logging more than offset the slight increase in electric power generation, transmission and distribution.
After declining 1.2 percentage points in the previous quarter, capacity utilization in the mining, quarrying and oil and gas extraction sector decreased to 79.6 percent in the first quarter (-2.3 percentage points).
Capacity utilization in the mining and quarrying industry was down 4.3 percentage points to 72.6 percent in the first quarter. This was the second consecutive quarterly decline. This decline was due to decreased activity in most industry subsectors, including support activities for oil and gas extraction which are included in this industry.
Capacity utilization in the oil and gas extraction industry decreased from 84.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2018 to 82.9 percent in the first quarter of 2019. The Government of Alberta imposed temporary limitations on oil sands extraction early in the first quarter, which contributed to this decline.
Capacity utilization in the construction industry was unchanged at 85.4 percent in the first quarter, following two consecutive quarterly declines.
The manufacturing sector's capacity utilization rate fell 0.9 percentage points to 78.2 percent in the first quarter. This decline was driven by durable goods manufacturing and coincided with decreased production in several industries. Year over year, the capacity utilization rate in manufacturing decreased by 2.1 percentage points.
Year over year, the capacity utilization rate was down in 16 of the 21 major manufacturing groups, representing approximately three-quarters of the gross domestic product in the manufacturing sector.