A “lay of the land” – how RV dealerships are distributed across Canada
By Nick Farnell, MBA, professor of business analytics.
Have you ever wondered how many RV dealership locations there are across Canada? Or how the number of locations vary across provinces? What about how many units are currently for sale per person in different parts of the country?
This article aims to answer those exact questions.
In total, there are 497 RV dealership locations in Canada. Not all of these are true locations however, with some having only one or two units for sale and others having none at all. Some locations are car dealerships with a single used RV for sale, others are service centres that have sold RVs previously, but did not have any units for sale at the time this article was written.
For this analysis, the threshold was set to locations that have at least five units for sale, regardless of new or used.
All data for this article was collected in October 2022 and is based on information available from the websites of dealerships.
Unsurprisingly, provinces with higher population have more dealerships – but there is much more to the story. When accounting for population differences, there is a different pattern.
Although New Brunswick is near the middle of the pack with overall number of dealerships, there are more dealerships per person than anywhere else in the country with one location for every 31,024 residents. The opposite is true for Ontario – although this province has the highest overall number of dealerships there is only one location for every 124,771 residents.
Ranking the number of units for sale in each province shows a similar pattern to the number of locations per person. Alberta has the highest number of units for sale per person, with 482 units for sale for each resident. Newfoundland and Labrador is on the opposite side of this list with one unit for every 2,701 residents.
British Columbia
- 57 RV dealerships
- Approximately 1 dealership for every 87,735 residents
- Approximately 1 RV for sale for every 829 residents (new and used, from dealerships)
Alberta
- 81 RV dealerships
- Approximately 1 dealership for every 52,625 residents
- Approximately 1 RV for sale for every 482 residents (new and used, from dealerships)
- Alberta has the most units for sale per capita.
Saskatchewan
- 20 RV dealerships
- Approximately 1 dealership for every 56,625 residents
- Approximately 1 RV for sale for every 850 residents (new and used, from dealerships)
Manitoba
- 14 RV dealerships
- Approximately 1 dealership for every 95,868 residents
- Approximately 1 RV for sale for every 1,408 residents (new and used, from dealerships)
Ontario
- 114 RV dealerships
- Approximately 1 dealership for every 124,771 residents
- Approximately 1 RV for sale for every 1,435 residents (new and used, from dealerships)
- Ontario has more dealerships than any other province in Canada
Quebec
- 93 RV dealerships
- Approximately 1 dealership for every 91,418 residents
- Approximately 1 RV for sale for every 1,009 residents (new and used, from dealerships)
New Brunswick
- 25 RV dealerships
- Approximately 1 dealership for every 31,024 residents
- Approximately 1 RV for sale for every 580 residents (new and used, from dealerships)
- New Brunswick has the most dealerships per capita in Canada
Nova Scotia
- 15 RV dealerships
- Approximately 1 dealership for every 64,626 residents
- Approximately 1 RV for sale for every 1,215 residents (new and used, from dealerships)
Prince Edward Island
- 3 RV dealerships
- Approximately 1 dealership for every 51,444 residents
- Approximately 1 RV for sale for every 1,118 residents (new and used, from dealerships)
Newfoundland and Labrador
- 4 RV dealerships
- Approximately 1 dealership for every 127,638 residents
- Approximately 1 RV for sale for every 2,701 residents (new and used, from dealerships)
The Territories
- 1 RV dealership
- Approximately 1 dealership for every 118160 residents
- Approximately 1 RV for sale for every 4,220 residents (new and used, from dealerships)
Bio
Nick Farnell, MBA
Nick Farnell is a professor of business analytics and runs the consulting firm wtrfll, focusing primarily on competitive intelligence and data driven insights. When not in front of a computer, he is spending as much time as possible in one of Ontario’s provincial parks with his young family.
Vist https://wtrfll.ca/ to see how we have helped organizations use data and analytics to better understand their customers and competitors.
