Canadian industries operated at 85.5% of their production capacity in the second quarter, up from 83.7% in the first quarter. This follows a slight decrease in capacity utilization in the first quarter of 2018 from the fourth quarter of 2017.

The increase in the second quarter of 2018 was led by the mining, quarrying and oil and gas extraction sector and, to a lesser extent, the manufacturing sector.

The capacity utilization rate of the oil and gas extraction subsector increased for a fifth consecutive quarter, rising from 82.7% in the first quarter to 87.1% in the second quarter. The rate has risen 7.6 percentage points since the first quarter of 2017, due to lower oil transportation capacity combined with higher oil prices in the second quarter, resulting in increased production.