According to Statistics Canada, the Machinery and Equipment Price Index (MEPI) increased 1.5 percent in the third quarter, following a 2.0 percent increase in the second quarter. The import component was up 1.7 percent while the domestic component increased 0.5 percent.
Transportation and warehousing (+2.4 percent) was the largest contributor to the quarterly increase in the MEPI. Other major contributors were finance, insurance and real estate (+1.1 percent), all manufacturing industries (+1.5 percent), mines, quarries and oil wells (+1.3 percent) and public administration (+1.2 percent).
Buses (+7.3 percent), logging, mining and construction machinery and equipment (+1.2 percent), computers and computer peripheral equipment (+1.3 percent), medium and heavy-duty trucks and chassis (+1.5 percent) and other industry-specific machinery (+1.5 percent) all contributed to the quarterly price increase.
The total MEPI increased 4.9 percent in the third quarter compared with the same quarter in 2017.
The import component was up 5.9 percent while the domestic component increased 1.8 percent. The movement in the import component was influenced by the year-over-year depreciation of the Canadian dollar (-4.2 percent) against the US dollar.