Statistics Canada has reported retail sales results for February that include a 0.3 per cent rise in food and beverage sales.
Supermarkets and other grocery stores showed sales growth of 0.4 per cent, while the figure for wine and liquor stores was up 0.7 per cent.
Overall retail sales rose 0.4 per cent to C$37.3bn (US$39.1bn), largely offsetting the decline reported in January, with the province of Ontario contributing particularly good figures.
Analysts had expected a gain of 0.5 per cent for February.
