Factories used 3.2% less energy in 2025, StatCan says

Canadian manufacturers used 3.2 per cent less energy in 2025 than a year earlier, Statistics Canada said Wednesday, as natural gas, electricity and steel-making fuels all fell.

The agency’s Annual Industrial Consumption of Energy Survey put total fuel energy consumed by the manufacturing sector at 1,988.6 petajoules in 2025, down from 2,055.3 petajoules in 2024, a drop of about 66.7 million gigajoules. The 2024 figures have been finalized. The 2025 estimates are preliminary and subject to revision.

Natural gas remained the largest single source, at 664.5 million gigajoules, or 33.4 per cent of all manufacturing energy. That was down 3.9 per cent from 691.2 million gigajoules in 2024. Electricity, which includes purchased and self-generated power, fell 4.0 per cent to 564.4 million gigajoules, or 28.4 per cent of the total.

The steepest decline among the larger industries was in iron and steel mills and ferro-alloy manufacturing, where energy use fell 11.5 per cent to 187.1 million gigajoules from 211.3 million. Primary metal manufacturing as a whole dropped 6.5 per cent to 449.8 million gigajoules. Paper manufacturing fell 3.2 per cent to 478.0 million gigajoules, and chemical manufacturing slipped 3.3 per cent to 263.7 million gigajoules.

Petroleum refineries were the most stable large user. Their consumption eased just 1.0 per cent to 280.1 million gigajoules, about 14.1 per cent of all manufacturing energy. Petroleum and coal product manufacturing overall used 300.0 million gigajoules, down 1.2 per cent. Refinery fuel gas, which refineries produce and burn themselves, eased 0.8 per cent to 149.7 million gigajoules.

The survey is sponsored by Natural Resources Canada and Environment and Climate Change Canada. It is based on a sample of 5,205 manufacturing establishments, with a weighted response rate of 83.4 per cent. One gigajoule is roughly the energy in a 30-litre tank of gasoline, according to Statistics Canada.

The decline comes as fuel costs have climbed. Statistics Canada reported earlier this week that Canada’s fuel sales rose 1 per cent in 2025, and the agency has also reported that factory-gate diesel prices doubled as the industrial product price index climbed 14.5 per cent. Statistics Canada’s table does not say why use fell, and it does not break the figures down by province.

The Canada News Media team calculated the percentage changes and shares in this story from Statistics Canada tables 25-10-0024-01 and 25-10-0025-01, comparing the 2025 and 2024 national totals for each fuel and industry.

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