Canadian Boat Sales Top $3 Billion

According to new figures released this week by the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA), boat sales in Canada during 2015 topped $3.7 billion.

NMMA Canada executive director Sara Anghel revealed the findings in an address to Canadian boat industry representatives during a trade breakfast on Tuesday, held in conjunction with the Toronto International Boat Show. The data was compiled from the Canadian Recreational Boating Statistical Abstract for 2015.

Anghel noted that 38,000 new boats were sold during 2015, with an estimated retail value of C$2.1bn. Those numbers represent a 5.4 percent decline compared to 2014 – in spite of a 3.8 percent gain in dollar value – due primarily to the sharp rise in the American dollar, which has made American-made boats more expensive in Canadian dealerships.

The bright spot was in the personal watercraft sector, which experienced sales gains of 10.2 percent for the year.

Used boat sales were also up, said Anghel, totaling 64,312 units worth $1.06 billion. Those figures represent a seven percent increase in sales volumes and a 21.2 percent increase in dollars over 2014.

“The data confirms that recreational boating remains a significant part of the Canadian economy, while providing us with insights on how we can continue to grow as an industry,” said Anghel. “Pre-owned boats and personal watercraft tend to be points of entry for new boaters and with sales of these categories seeing healthy increases, alongside rising boater participation, this signals that boating continues to be an attractive recreational activity to Canadians.”

Anghel added that Canadians’ participation in recreational boating has risen to 43 percent of the adult population, or 12.4 million people, up from 35 percent in 2011-2012. Dispelling the myth that boaters are generally wealthy, the NMMA data revealed that 59 percent of boaters have combined household incomes of less than $100,000.