Total light vehicle sales rose to 174,337 cars and trucks, as Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV , Ford Motor Co (>> Ford Motor Company) and General Motors Co (>> General Motors Company) all reported higher Canadian sales for the month.

"This week Statistics Canada released a positive report on the Canadian economy that exceeded expectations," DesRosiers wrote in a note. "September auto sales confirms that parts of our economy are indeed performing strongly."

The data came as the major U.S. automakers reported a jump in September sales, boosted by cheap gasoline and ultra-low interest rates.

Ford sales rose 3.9 percent in Canada to 28,215 vehicles, recovering from a 5 percent year-over-year decline in August, as a 5.6 percent gain in truck sales more than offset a 3.9 percent decline in car sales.

Fiat Chrysler's Canadian sales rose 1.1 percent to 24,007 vehicles. Ram pickup sales jumped 28.2 percent to 8,449 trucks from a year earlier, boosting the company's truck sales, which rose 5.8 percent to 22,398 vehicles. But total car sales dropped 37.2 percent to 1,609 vehicles.

GM sales rose 2 percent to 24,960 vehicles. GM said its GMC pickup trucks were up 15 percent in September, while sales of Cadillac vehicles increased 35 percent.

Toyota Canada (>> Toyota Motor Corp) sales jumped 5.5 percent to 19,336 vehicles, boosted in part by a 44 percent increase in Lexus sales.

Honda Canada (>> Honda Motor Co Ltd) reported that sales rose 16 percent in September 2015 to 17,441 Honda and Acura vehicles.

(Reporting by Allison Lampert in Montreal and Allison Martell in Toronto; Editing by Nick Zieminski)