Canadian consumers showed little sign of slowing down, with stronger-than-expected spending at the beginning of the second quarter seen holding firm in May.

Receipts for retailers rose 0.5 per cent last month, according to an advance estimate from Statistics Canada. That followed a 1.1 per cent jump a month earlier, which beat the 0.4 per cent median estimate from economists in a Bloomberg survey. In volume terms, retail sales increased 0.3 per cent in April.

Core retail sales, which exclude gasoline stations and car dealers, increased 1.5 per cent in April, the fifth consecutive monthly increase. The gain was led by higher sales at general merchandise stores and food and beverage retailers.

The data suggest Canadian consumers were still dining out, traveling and spending on major purchases such as cars. Their resilience defied expectations that the country's deeply indebted households would respond more quickly and negatively to an aggressive rate-hike campaign by the Bank of Canada.

Strong economic momentum since the central bank declared a pause in January prompted policymakers to raise rates again earlier this month.

Regionally, sales rose in eight provinces in April, with Ontario seeing the largest increase of 1.3 per cent, led by higher vehicle sales.

The statistics agency didn't provide details on the May estimate, which was based on responses from 40.6 per cent of companies surveyed.