Categories
News

Canadian corporations lost $10B in profit last quarter

Even then, corporations saw over $116 billion ot combined profits.

At the end of last month, Statistics Canada released third quarter financial statistics for businesses for 2022. The seasonally adjusted data isn’t broken down by provinces, so I’m not sure how Alberta fares compared to the rest of the country, but I thought I’d take a look at how things are anyhow.

Total operating revenue$1,318,735
Income or loss before income taxes$136,769
Net income or loss$116,182
in millions $

During the last quarter, Canadian businesses as a whole brought in over $1.32 trillion in operating revenue. Of that, $1.12 trillion was generated through the sale of goods and services. That’s about 86.3%.

Once you account for expenses, these same business were left with $136.77 billion in profit, before taxes, and $116.18 billion after taxes.

Here’s how that compares to the second quarter of 2022.

Q2 2022Q3 2022Change% change
Total operating revenue$1,282,020$1,318,735$36,7152.86%
Income or loss before income taxes$148,884$136,769-$12,115-8.14%
Net income or loss$126,367$116,182-$10,185-8.06%
in millions $

Operating revenue actually increased by $36.715 billion between the two quarters, but profits both before and after taxes were down—$12.12 billion and $10.19 billion, respectively.

That being said, check out how things look compared to a year ago.

Q3 2021Q3 2022Change% change
Total operating revenue$1,177,493$1,318,735$141,24212.00%
Income or loss before income taxes$130,977$136,769$5,7924.42%
Net income or loss$113,545$116,182$2,6372.32%
in millions $

This looks definitely more impressive.

Over the past year, corporate revenue overall rose by over $141 billion, from $1.177 trillion to $1.219 trillion, a jump of 12%. Pre-tax profits rose by $5.79 billion, and after-tax profits increased by $2.63 billion, or 4.42% and 2.32%, respectively.

And if we look at all 3 quarters of 2022 so far, here’s how things have looked year to date.

Q1 2022Q2 2022Q3 2022YTD 2022
Total operating revenue$1,231,615$1,282,020$1,318,735$3,832,370
Income or loss before income taxes$140,733$148,884$136,769$426,386
Net income or loss$123,591$126,367$116,182$366,140
in millions $

So far this year, Canada’s businesses have brought in over $3.83 trillion in revenue and a combined $366.14 billion in profits.

Here’s how after-tax profits break down by economic sector for the third quarter.

Miscellaneous Intermediation$13,169
Oil & gas extraction & support services$12,000
Real estate$11,721
Banking & other depository credit intermediation$9,719
Professional, scientific & technical services$5,480
Educational, health care & social assistance services$4,734
Construction$4,216
Transportation, postal & couriers services, & support activities for transportation$3,722
Petroleum & coal product mfg$3,388
Primary metal & fabricated metal product & machinery mfg$2,937
Other retailers$2,711
Wood product & paper mfg$2,645
Machinery, equipment & supplies merchant wholesalers$2,475
Pharmaceutical & medecine mfg, & soap, agricultural chemicals, paint & other chemical product mfg$2,464
Other wholesalers$2,333
Motor vehicle & parts dealers$2,140
Food & soft drink & ice mfg$2,092
Administrative & support, waste management & remediation services$2,080
Building material & supplies merchant wholesalers$2,063
Telecommunications$1,996
Property & casualty insurance carriers$1,790
Securities & commodity exchanges, portfolio management & miscellaneous financial investment activity$1,757
Life, health & medical insurance carriers$1,740
Utilities$1,571
Food & beverage stores$1,344
Agriculture, forestry, fishing & hunting$1,227
Rental & leasing of automotive, machinery & equipment, & other goods$1,072
Clothing, sporting goods, & general merchandise stores$941
All other non-depository credit intermediation$858
Mining & quarrying (except oil & gas) & support activities$854
Motor vehicle & motor vehicle parts & accessories merchant wholesalers$829
Pipelines$807
Agencies, brokerages & other insurance related activities$750
Clothing, textile, leather & furniture mfg, & other mfg$737
Repair, maintenance & personal services$666
Local credit unions$562
Computer & electronic equipment mfg$523
Non-metallic mineral product mfg$520
Motor vehicle parts mfg$464
Plastics & rubber products mfg$433
Credit card issuing, sales financing & consumer lending$419
Alcohol beverage, tobacco & cannabis product mfg$417
Basic chemical mfg & resin, synthetic rubber, & artificial & synthetic fibres & filaments mfg$389
Securities & commodity brokerage$373
Financial transactions processing, loan brokers, & other activities related to credit intermediation$340
Warehousing$305
Securities & commodity contracts dealing$272
Aerospace, rail & ship products & other transportation equipment mfg$184
Motor vehicle & trailer mfg$175
Central credit unions$18
Arts, entertainment & recreation, & accommodation & food services-$71
Publishing, motion picture & sound recording, broadcasting, & information services-$169
in millions $

The “miscellaneous intermediation” sector saw the highest after-tax profits last quarter, reporting $13.17 billion in net income.

Of the total 52 sectors reporting, 27 posted profits above $1 billion, and 3 of them saw profits above $10 billion, including Canada’s oil and gas sector.

(But it must be Trudeau‘s carbon tax and the war in Ukraine driving up fuel prices.)

Only two sectors—“arts, entertainment & recreation, & accommodation & food services” and “publishing, motion picture & sound recording, broadcasting, & information services”—posted losses.

Here’s how each sector did compared to the first half of the year:

Q2 2022Q3 2022Change% change
Agriculture, forestry, fishing & hunting-$698$1,227$1,925275.79%
Pharmaceutical & medecine mfg, & soap, agricultural chemicals, paint & other chemical product mfg$1,218$2,464$1,246102.30%
Agencies, brokerages & other insurance related activities$163$750$587360.12%
Life, health & medical insurance carriers$1,305$1,740$43533.33%
Professional, scientific & technical services$5,116$5,480$3647.11%
Food & soft drink & ice mfg$1,734$2,092$35820.65%
Utilities$1,272$1,571$29923.51%
Non-metallic mineral product mfg$355$520$16546.48%
Real estate$11,566$11,721$1551.34%
Motor vehicle & parts dealers$2,019$2,140$1215.99%
Building material & supplies merchant wholesalers$1,977$2,063$864.35%
Machinery, equipment & supplies merchant wholesalers$2,392$2,475$833.47%
Central credit unions-$59$18$77130.51%
Computer & electronic equipment mfg$447$523$7617.00%
Other retailers$2,646$2,711$652.46%
Arts, entertainment & recreation, & accommodation & food services-$132-$71$61-46.21%
Food & beverage stores$1,289$1,344$554.27%
Educational, health care & social assistance services$4,681$4,734$531.13%
Securities & commodity brokerage$322$373$5115.84%
Motor vehicle & motor vehicle parts & accessories merchant wholesalers$786$829$435.47%
Telecommunications$1,958$1,996$381.94%
Motor vehicle parts mfg$429$464$358.16%
Clothing, sporting goods, & general merchandise stores$910$941$313.41%
Warehousing$276$305$2910.51%
Pipelines$781$807$263.33%
Repair, maintenance & personal services$647$666$192.94%
Basic chemical mfg & resin, synthetic rubber, & artificial & synthetic fibres & filaments mfg$371$389$184.85%
Alcohol beverage, tobacco & cannabis product mfg$401$417$163.99%
Rental & leasing of automotive, machinery & equipment, & other goods$1,063$1,072$90.85%
Motor vehicle & trailer mfg$169$175$63.55%
Aerospace, rail & ship products & other transportation equipment mfg$186$184-$2-1.08%
Plastics & rubber products mfg$457$433-$24-5.25%
Administrative & support, waste management & remediation services$2,130$2,080-$50-2.35%
Local credit unions$633$562-$71-11.22%
Other wholesalers$2,405$2,333-$72-2.99%
Securities & commodity contracts dealing$350$272-$78-22.29%
Clothing, textile, leather & furniture mfg, & other mfg$825$737-$88-10.67%
Financial transactions processing, loan brokers, & other activities related to credit intermediation$447$340-$107-23.94%
All other non-depository credit intermediation$1,020$858-$162-15.88%
Securities & commodity exchanges, portfolio management & miscellaneous financial investment activity$1,975$1,757-$218-11.04%
Wood product & paper mfg$2,869$2,645-$224-7.81%
Credit card issuing, sales financing & consumer lending$826$419-$407-49.27%
Primary metal & fabricated metal product & machinery mfg$3,429$2,937-$492-14.35%
Construction$4,736$4,216-$520-10.98%
Oil & gas extraction & support services$12,653$12,000-$653-5.16%
Property & casualty insurance carriers$2,577$1,790-$787-30.54%
Transportation, postal & couriers services, & support activities for transportation$4,532$3,722-$810-17.87%
Miscellaneous Intermediation$14,074$13,169-$905-6.43%
Publishing, motion picture & sound recording, broadcasting, & information services$1,273-$169-$1,442-113.28%
Banking & other depository credit intermediation$12,828$9,719-$3,109-24.24%
Mining & quarrying (except oil & gas) & support activities$4,053$854-$3,199-78.93%
Petroleum & coal product mfg$6,685$3,388-$3,297-49.32%
in millions $

Between the second and third quarters, Canada’s agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting sector saw the largest increase in profits, rising by $1.925 billion from a loss of $698 million in the second quarter to a profit of $1.23 billion in the third.

22 sectors reported lower profits in the third quarter, with petroleum and coal product manufacturing seeing the largest decline, dropping $3.297 billion from $6.686 billion to $3.388 billion.

And here’s a comparison to last year’s third quarter.

Q3 2021Q3 2022Change% change
Oil & gas extraction & support services$7,319$12,000$4,68163.96%
Real estate$9,969$11,721$1,75217.57%
Pharmaceutical & medecine mfg, & soap, agricultural chemicals, paint & other chemical product mfg$1,140$2,464$1,324116.14%
Petroleum & coal product mfg$2,222$3,388$1,16652.48%
Transportation, postal & couriers services, & support activities for transportation$2,980$3,722$74224.90%
Utilities$1,101$1,571$47042.69%
Motor vehicle & parts dealers$1,715$2,140$42524.78%
Life, health & medical insurance carriers$1,337$1,740$40330.14%
Machinery, equipment & supplies merchant wholesalers$2,101$2,475$37417.80%
Other retailers$2,446$2,711$26510.83%
Wood product & paper mfg$2,384$2,645$26110.95%
Food & beverage stores$1,090$1,344$25423.30%
Educational, health care & social assistance services$4,503$4,734$2315.13%
Primary metal & fabricated metal product & machinery mfg$2,709$2,937$2288.42%
Arts, entertainment & recreation, & accommodation & food services-$289-$71$218-75.43%
Securities & commodity exchanges, portfolio management & miscellaneous financial investment activity$1,540$1,757$21714.09%
Aerospace, rail & ship products & other transportation equipment mfg-$7$184$191-2728.57%
Financial transactions processing, loan brokers, & other activities related to credit intermediation$172$340$16897.67%
Computer & electronic equipment mfg$379$523$14437.99%
Rental & leasing of automotive, machinery & equipment, & other goods$949$1,072$12312.96%
Building material & supplies merchant wholesalers$1,941$2,063$1226.29%
Credit card issuing, sales financing & consumer lending$303$419$11638.28%
Non-metallic mineral product mfg$433$520$8720.09%
Basic chemical mfg & resin, synthetic rubber, & artificial & synthetic fibres & filaments mfg$332$389$5717.17%
Pipelines$751$807$567.46%
Telecommunications$1,944$1,996$522.67%
Securities & commodity brokerage$330$373$4313.03%
Motor vehicle parts mfg$422$464$429.95%
Administrative & support, waste management & remediation services$2,041$2,080$391.91%
All other non-depository credit intermediation$831$858$273.25%
Warehousing$281$305$248.54%
Securities & commodity contracts dealing$250$272$228.80%
Food & soft drink & ice mfg$2,077$2,092$150.72%
Professional, scientific & technical services$5,485$5,480-$5-0.09%
Clothing, textile, leather & furniture mfg, & other mfg$751$737-$14-1.86%
Other wholesalers$2,351$2,333-$18-0.77%
Plastics & rubber products mfg$464$433-$31-6.68%
Repair, maintenance & personal services$722$666-$56-7.76%
Central credit unions$85$18-$67-78.82%
Motor vehicle & trailer mfg$247$175-$72-29.15%
Motor vehicle & motor vehicle parts & accessories merchant wholesalers$1,006$829-$177-17.59%
Clothing, sporting goods, & general merchandise stores$1,210$941-$269-22.23%
Agencies, brokerages & other insurance related activities$1,082$750-$332-30.68%
Alcohol beverage, tobacco & cannabis product mfg$914$417-$497-54.38%
Local credit unions$1,254$562-$692-55.18%
Agriculture, forestry, fishing & hunting$1,983$1,227-$756-38.12%
Property & casualty insurance carriers$2,553$1,790-$763-29.89%
Publishing, motion picture & sound recording, broadcasting, & information services$785-$169-$954-121.53%
Banking & other depository credit intermediation$10,845$9,719-$1,126-10.38%
Construction$5,933$4,216-$1,717-28.94%
Miscellaneous Intermediation$15,109$13,169-$1,940-12.84%
Mining & quarrying (except oil & gas) & support activities$3,070$854-$2,216-72.18%
in millions $

Canada’s oil and gas sector saw the largest year-over-year increase to third quarter profits, jumping $4.681 billion from $7.32 billion to the $12 billion I mentioned earlier.

The number of sectors posting lower profits drops down to just 19, however, when looking at year-over-year changes.

Finally, here are the year-to-date numbers for each sector.

Q1 2022Q2 2022Q3 2022YTD 2022
Miscellaneous Intermediation$15,925$14,074$13,169$43,168
Real estate$12,940$11,566$11,721$36,227
Banking & other depository credit intermediation$12,245$12,828$9,719$34,792
Oil & gas extraction & support services$6,227$12,653$12,000$30,880
Professional, scientific & technical services$5,486$5,116$5,480$16,082
Educational, health care & social assistance services$4,667$4,681$4,734$14,082
Petroleum & coal product mfg$3,862$6,685$3,388$13,935
Construction$4,944$4,736$4,216$13,896
Transportation, postal & couriers services, & support activities for transportation$3,387$4,532$3,722$11,641
Mining & quarrying (except oil & gas) & support activities$4,678$4,053$854$9,585
Primary metal & fabricated metal product & machinery mfg$2,741$3,429$2,937$9,107
Wood product & paper mfg$2,979$2,869$2,645$8,493
Other retailers$2,530$2,646$2,711$7,887
Machinery, equipment & supplies merchant wholesalers$2,412$2,392$2,475$7,279
Other wholesalers$2,448$2,405$2,333$7,186
Securities & commodity exchanges, portfolio management & miscellaneous financial investment activity$3,404$1,975$1,757$7,136
Property & casualty insurance carriers$2,365$2,577$1,790$6,732
Administrative & support, waste management & remediation services$2,483$2,130$2,080$6,693
Motor vehicle & parts dealers$1,968$2,019$2,140$6,127
Telecommunications$2,148$1,958$1,996$6,102
Building material & supplies merchant wholesalers$1,946$1,977$2,063$5,986
Food & soft drink & ice mfg$1,845$1,734$2,092$5,671
Life, health & medical insurance carriers$1,957$1,305$1,740$5,002
Pharmaceutical & medecine mfg, & soap, agricultural chemicals, paint & other chemical product mfg$1,173$1,218$2,464$4,855
Utilities$1,412$1,272$1,571$4,255
Food & beverage stores$1,119$1,289$1,344$3,752
Motor vehicle & motor vehicle parts & accessories merchant wholesalers$1,627$786$829$3,242
Rental & leasing of automotive, machinery & equipment, & other goods$1,007$1,063$1,072$3,142
All other non-depository credit intermediation$1,040$1,020$858$2,918
Clothing, sporting goods, & general merchandise stores$1,001$910$941$2,852
Local credit unions$1,217$633$562$2,412
Pipelines$771$781$807$2,359
Clothing, textile, leather & furniture mfg, & other mfg$738$825$737$2,300
Credit card issuing, sales financing & consumer lending$809$826$419$2,054
Repair, maintenance & personal services$682$647$666$1,995
Publishing, motion picture & sound recording, broadcasting, & information services$700$1,273-$169$1,804
Plastics & rubber products mfg$571$457$433$1,461
Alcohol beverage, tobacco & cannabis product mfg$640$401$417$1,458
Agencies, brokerages & other insurance related activities$532$163$750$1,445
Motor vehicle parts mfg$461$429$464$1,354
Non-metallic mineral product mfg$358$355$520$1,233
Computer & electronic equipment mfg$212$447$523$1,182
Financial transactions processing, loan brokers, & other activities related to credit intermediation$377$447$340$1,164
Basic chemical mfg & resin, synthetic rubber, & artificial & synthetic fibres & filaments mfg$363$371$389$1,123
Securities & commodity brokerage$398$322$373$1,093
Securities & commodity contracts dealing$405$350$272$1,027
Warehousing$259$276$305$840
Agriculture, forestry, fishing & hunting$171-$698$1,227$700
Aerospace, rail & ship products & other transportation equipment mfg$247$186$184$617
Motor vehicle & trailer mfg-$56$169$175$288
Central credit unions-$49-$59$18-$90
Arts, entertainment & recreation, & accommodation & food services-$181-$132-$71-$384
in millions $

The industry with the largest year-to-date profits this year is “miscellaneous intermediation”, with $43.168 billion over the first 3 quarters.

Second was real estate with $36.227 billion, followed by “banking and other depository credit intermediation” at $34.792 billion and “oil and gas extraction and support services” at $30.880 billion.

Only two sectors—“central credit unions” and “arts, entertainment and recreation, and accommodation and food services”— have seen a combined loss in year-to-date profits.

Support independent journalism

By Kim Siever

Kim Siever is an independent queer journalist based in Lethbridge, Alberta. He writes daily news articles, focusing on politics and labour.

Comment on this story

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

%d bloggers like this: