The pandemic boosted Canada’s ecommerce market robustly last year by 75.0%, making it the second-fastest-growing ecommerce market worldwide behind Argentina, at 100.6% growth.

“The shift to online shopping was slower to develop in Canada than other countries, notably the US, so there was plenty of room to grow,” said eMarketer principal analyst at Insider Intelligence Paul Briggs. “The pandemic forced retailers to sell more online, and consumers lapped it up. Retail ecommerce surged ahead last year and is now a primary growth driver of retail in Canada in 2021.”

Ecommerce’s share of total retail will expand to 13.4% this year and reach 17.2% by the end of our forecast period in 2025.

Despite last year’s decline, overall retail sales in Canada will increase 6.4% year over year to $481.40 billion, surpassing pre-pandemic levels. And it’s on track to surpass $500 billion next year.