Consumer spending increases

Canadians are known to be frugal, thrifty, and practical when it comes to buying, addicted to discount coupons and always looking for a bargain and shopping for things that are really needed at home. Ostentatious and extravagant shopping is for the Americans, not Canadians.

However, things could be changing if we’re to believe a Conference Board of Canada report. The Board indicated that Canadian consumers will spend big money for the next four months, pushing the retail industry profits to a record $10.1 billion by 2010. This will be brought about by income growth, healthy job gains and strong consumer confidence. But some consumers are also expected to shift more of their future disposable income into savings, reducing future retail sales.

Furniture, appliance and consumer electronics sales will remain strong through the end of the decade caused by planned obsolescence. New vehicle sales was also forecasted to rise.

As for online Christmas shopping, British Columbians are the most likely to do their holiday shopping online, about 29 percent in the province claimed that they would buy gifts on the Internet. British Columbians are more relaxed about online perils compared to the residents of Manitoba and Saskatchewan who are averse to online shopping. Adults with a household income of more than $80,000 were the most likely to shop online during the holidays.

Canadian consumers have changed through the years and the country has become a nation of savers-turned-spenders. A new survey showed that 49 percent of Canadians either strongly or somewhat believe they’d be poverty stricken if they missed one or two pay cheques. This underscored past studies showing that Canada has gone from a nation of savers to spenders, with a record level of personal and household debt.

The insecurity is that there has been an enormous growth of contract and casual workers who do not have permanent jobs. Sixty-five percent of those surveyed said that most of the benefit from the country’s economic growth has gone to the well-off rather than average Canadians. Despite the feeling of insecurity, Canadians are spending more today and taking more financial risks.

On another subject, British Columbians who mostly believe on work-life balance are said to work less than Quebecers who don’t consider themselves to be in Lotus Land. B.C. was the second lowest in Canada on average annual hours worked per job but amazingly had an average annual economic growth of 3.1 percent, well ahead of the national average of 2.6 percent. The highest number of hours worked are in Northwest Territories and Alberta.

New findings about living in British Columbia and Canada:

• Vancouver ranks as the 15th most expensive city in the world in the 2006 Demographic International Housing Affordability study but at the end of the day, B.C. is the most desirable place to live.

• More people and immigrant are moving to B.C. than away from it even when personal disposable incomes are rising faster than the national average.

• B.C. spends $2,662 on health care per person, more than Alberta and Ontario and the national average.

• B.C.’s crime rate has declined but it remains higher than the national average and is 25 percent higher than in Alberta.

• The census reported that one in seven women is a member of a visible minority live in either Toronto, Ontario or Vancouver. Of those women who reported being in a visible Canadian minority group, 26 percent were Chinese, 22 percent were South Asian and 17 percent were Black.

• B.C.’s population continues to grow older, due to the long-term decline in fertility levels, together with the steady increase in life expectancy. The median age of B.C.’s population is 39.8 years. Seniors accounted for an estimated 14 percent of the province’s population. The proportion of 20-to-64 year-olds in the population increased to 64 percent from 59 percent in 1981.

Dollar stores, commonly known as Dollarama, are popular here and is the fastest growing concept in retail. The number of dollar stores doubled since 2000 and profits top $734 million. It’s been estimated that almost 77 percent of Canadian households over the last year have shopped in a dollar store. The popularity can be attributed to the more diverse ethnic makeup in urban areas, globalization and China’s cheap production costs.