OTTAWA — For the third consecutive quarter, Canadian industries increased their production capacity.

During the first quarter of 2010, industries in Canada operated at 74.2 percent of their production capacity, up from 71.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009.

According to Statistics Canada, prior to these gains, capacity use had been on a downward trend since the first quarter of 2007, when the rate was 83.1 percent. Increases of 2.7 percentage points in the fourth quarter of 2009 and 2.9 percentage points in the first quarter of 2010 were the largest quarterly gains on record.

The strength recorded by the overall Canadian industries was mainly driven by the manufacturing industry, where the utilization rate rose from 70.7 percent to 75 percent, and 20 of the 21 major manufacturing industries advancing.

Overall, four industries were major contributors to the higher rate for total manufacturing: transportation equipment, primary metal, chemical, and machinery manufacturing.

Most non-manufacturing sectors posted gains in capacity use for a second consecutive quarter. In the first quarter of 2010, mining led the growth with an advance of 8.2 percentage points.