October's month-on-month gain was revised to 0.5 percent from the originally reported 0.3 percent. The Canadian dollar firmed after the wholesale report on Thursday, and held steady as market players prepared to comb through the Bank of Canada's detailed update on its view of the economy in its Monetary Policy Report, to be released later in the day. On Tuesday, the bank tweaked its growth outlook as it pledged to keep interest rates at ultra-low levels until the end of June.
The wholesale trade figures were the latest in a series of data that shows the Canadian economy is gaining traction after crawling out of recession in the third quarter. They bode well for a rise in gross domestic product in the fourth quarter. "Overall, this was a very strong report and it points to a significant pick-up in Canadian wholesale sales activity in November, which should to add quite favourably to Canadian GDP," said Millan Mulraine, economics strategist at TD Securities.