The Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) reports that national airport duty free sales grew by 17% to $17m in April, while national land border duty free sales increased by 2% to $9.7m. First quarter land border sales decreased by 0.04% to $32.8m, while airport duty free sales rose by 11% to $71m.

[All figures here are quoted in Canadian dollars and no currency translations into US dollars have been made as the US and Canadian dollar are currently trading at virtual parity-Ed].

REGIONAL LAND BORDER SALES BREAKDOWN
The Prairie Region for April 2011 saw sales of approx. $684,000.This is a decrease in sales compared to April 2010 of 6%. For the January/April 2011 period, the Prairie region saw sales equal $2.6m, with a decrease in sales for Jan/April 2011 compared to Jan/December 2010 of approx.0.85%. It should be noted that Manitoba experienced flooding in the Spring of 2011 which has impacted on overall sales.

The Pacific region’s sales figures for April 2011 saw sales rise by 11% to $1.89m, while they increased by around 6% for the January/April 2011 period to $6m compared to Jan/ December 2010.

The Ontario region’s sales figure for April 2011 came in at $5.3m – an increase of 0.02% compared to April 2010. For January/April 2011, Ontario saw sales reach $18m with an overall decrease compared to Jan/December 2010 of approximately 2.22%

Sales in the Atlantic/Quebec regions for April 2011 grew by 3% to $1.9m compared to April 2010. For the January/April 2011 period these regions recorded sales of $5.8m – a 1.48% increase when compared to Jan/December 2010.