![\"canada](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/02b7848abcf5cad3e41044b46113037b.jpeg\")
Car sales in Canada fell in all 10 provinces last month due to trade pressures and the increase in gasoline prices. (Credit: Peter J Thompson) Car sales in Canada fell in all 10 provinces last month due to trade pressures and the increase in gasoline prices. (Credit: Peter J Thompson) <\/p>\n
The fallout from the Iran<\/a> war continues to spread across the Canadian economy<\/a>, with car sales down in all 10 provinces last month due to trade pressures, while higher prices at the pump also dissuaded people from making what amounts to a major purchase.<\/p>\n \u201cMarch was a challenging month for the Canadian new light vehicle sales market,\u201d DesRosiers Automotive Consultants Inc. said in a report, adding that sales contracted by double digits in seven provinces.<\/p>\n Sales in Alberta<\/a> fell 11.1 per cent from a year ago and they dropped nearly 20 per cent in Newfoundland and Labrador.\u00a0Overall, sales in Canada fell 8.2 per cent in March from March 2025.<\/p>\n In the first quarter, Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island and Saskatchewan<\/a> were the main laggers, with declines of 16.4 per cent, 13.4 per cent and 11 per cent, respectively, from a year ago.<\/p>\n \u201cThe breadth of the weakness this March and the disappointing (seasonally adjusted annual rate) of 1.85 million are undoubtedly concerning, with both trade pressures and high gas prices<\/a> weighing on the market,\u201d Andrew King, managing partner at DesRosiers, said in a press release.<\/p>\n The United States-Israel war on Iran started on Feb. 28 and the Iranians shortly thereafter closed the Strait of Hormuz<\/a>, through which oil<\/a> and natural gas exports traverse to markets in Europe and Asia from countries including Saudi Arabia. That led to oil prices jumping around the world and higher gas prices.<\/p>\n The average price at the pump in Canada is $1.70 per litre, including taxes, up from $1.28 at the start of 2026, but down from average highs of around $1.90 recorded in early April, according to Kalibrate Technologies Ltd. On Monday, a temporary pause of the federal excise tax on gas came into effect, which shaved roughly 10 cents off the cost per litre.<\/p>\n Other countries are also feeling effects from the spike in energy prices for industry and households. For example, Germany cut its growth forecast for this year in half and the International Monetary Fund<\/a> last week cut its forecasts for global growth and said the Iran war could tip the world economy into recession if it isn\u2019t resolved quickly.<\/p>\n On Monday, the Bank of Canada<\/a> in its surveys for first-quarter business and consumer outlooks said the conflict has somewhat derailed improving expectations for the economy and inflation<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Business Outlook Survey previously said there were improving investment and employment intentions prior to the start of the war and stable inflation expectations. But the central bank said one-year business inflation expectations have risen to 3.8 per cent from three per cent after it resurveyed businesses after Feb. 28 that were most exposed to the conflict.<\/p>\n Consumers were similarly reinterviewed for the Canadian Survey of Consumer Expectations, and they expect the war to hurt the economy and increase inflation.<\/p>\n The Bank of Canada keeps a sharp watch on inflation expectations because if they begin to rise, they could end up translating into higher prices, forcing the central bank to hike interest rates<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cRoughly one in four households suggested that they were already cancelling or delaying spending in some areas as a result (of the war),\u201d Andrew Grantham, a economist at CIBC Capital Markets, said in a note on the consumer outlook survey.<\/p>\n \u00a0Sign up here<\/a> to get Posthaste delivered straight to your inbox.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n When oil prices surge, the Canadian dollar usually strengthens \u2014 but that dynamic has shifted.<\/p>\n Since the war in the Middle East erupted in late February, the loonie slipped<\/a> 0.2 per cent against the United States currency as West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose roughly 34 per cent. The divergence prompted traders to boost their bets against the Canadian dollar. Meanwhile, the Norwegian krone and Australian dollar, other commodity-linked currencies, have rallied in that period.<\/p>\n Traders have been souring on the loonie, with hedge funds turning the most bearish on the currency this year in the week through April 14. \u2014 Bloomberg<\/p>\n Read the full story here<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Today\u2019s data: Canada industrial product price and raw industrial price index for March, Chicago Fed National Activity Index, ongoing and initial jobless claims<\/p>\n Earnings: Mullen Group Ltd., Teck Resources Ltd., First Service Corp., Senstar Technologies Corp., BQE Water Inc., Westport Fuel Systems Inc., Dow Inc., American Airlines Group Inc., Lockheed Martin Corp., Blackstone Inc. Keurig Dr. Pepper Inc., Freeport-McMoRan Inc., American Express Co., Baker Hughes Co.<\/p>\n It is that time of year when taxpayers cross their fingers and hope for a tax refund. Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) data for the 2026 tax-filing season through April 20 show about 62 per cent of tax returns filed resulted in a refund. The average refund was about $2,248. Taxpayers with a balance owed an average of $5,775. But a surprising category for chronic CRA debtors on April 30 is retirees. Read more here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Interested in energy? The subscriber-only FP West: Energy Insider newsletter brings you exclusive reporting and in-depth analysis on one of the country\u2019s most important sectors. Sign up here.<\/a><\/p>\n Are you worried about having enough for retirement? Do you need to adjust your portfolio? Are you starting out or making a change and wondering how to build wealth? Are you trying to make ends meet? Drop us a line at\u00a0wealth@postmedia.com<\/a>\u00a0with your contact info and the gist of your problem and we\u2019ll find some experts to help you out while writing a Family Finance story about it (we\u2019ll keep your name out of it, of course).<\/p>\n Want to learn more about mortgages? Mortgage strategist Robert McLister\u2019s Financial Post column <\/a>can help navigate the complex sector, from the latest trends to financing opportunities you won\u2019t want to miss. Plus check his mortgage rate page<\/a> for Canada\u2019s lowest national mortgage rates, updated daily.<\/p>\n Visit the Financial Post\u2019s YouTube channel<\/a> for interviews with Canada\u2019s leading experts in business, economics, housing, the energy sector and more.<\/p>\n Today\u2019s Posthaste was written by Gigi Suhanic<\/a> with additional reporting from Financial Post staff and Bloomberg.<\/p>\n Have a story idea, pitch, embargoed report, or a suggestion for this newsletter? Email us at\u00a0posthaste@postmedia.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n Bookmark our website and support our journalism: Don\u2019t miss the business news you need to know \u2014 add\u00a0financialpost.com<\/a>\u00a0to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Car sales in Canada fell in all 10 provinces last month due to trade pressures and the increase…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16315,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[8576,693,17,186,8575,1960,1291,6213,6215,200,3242],"class_list":{"0":"post-16314","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-canada","8":"tag-andrew-king","9":"tag-bank-of-canada","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-canada-revenue-agency","12":"tag-desrosiers-automotive-consultants-inc","13":"tag-energy-prices","14":"tag-gas-prices","15":"tag-gasoline-prices","16":"tag-inflation-expectations","17":"tag-iran","18":"tag-iran-war"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16314","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16314"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16314\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a> <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/a>
<\/a>
<\/a> <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n