Canadian industries operated at 81.4 percent of their production capacity in the first quarter, up from 80.9 percent in the previous quarter. The mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction industries were the main source of this increase.
Oil and gas extraction was primarily responsible for the increase in the capacity utilization rate in the first quarter. Following a decline in the previous quarter, the capacity utilization rate for oil and gas extraction rose 1.7 percentage points to 79.0 percent in the first quarter, due to higher volumes of oil and gas extraction.
As a result of increased production, capacity use in electric power generation, transmission and distribution was up for the first time in four quarters, rising from 80.9 percent to 82.5 percent.
Manufacturing as a whole operated at 83.2 percent of its capacity in the first quarter, edging up 0.2 percentage points from the previous quarter. Food manufacturing and transportation equipment manufacturing were the main sources of the increase.
In the first quarter, capacity utilization rates rose in 11 of the 21 major groups in the manufacturing sector, accounting for approximately 60 percent of the sector's gross domestic product.