Canadian industries operated at 81.7% of their production capacity in the first quarter, up from 79.7% in the fourth quarter of 2020. The increase in the first quarter was driven by gains in construction and in mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction. With the recovery of the oil and gas extraction subsector and upward trends from preliminary construction sector indicators, industrial capacity utilization could rise in the second quarter of 2021. In the construction sector, capacity utilization rose to 92.4% in the first quarter of 2021—the third consecutive quarterly increase. This is the highest rate since ... (full story)