Albertans spent most on shelter and food in 2015: Stats Canada

When it comes to shelter, food and overall household spending, Albertans continue to spend more than any other province.

Statistics Canada released its annual Survey of Household Spending Friday, tracking expenditures of homes for 2015.

While the average Canadian home spent $60,516 on goods and services, Alberta’s median number was $76,535, with Saskatchewan being the closest at $65,959.

University of Calgary Economist Trevor Tombe said that’s also an increase from 2014 when the province’s recession began, which was around $71,000.

“This is far above the rest of the country and that’s really just because Alberta incomes are on average, quite a bit higher than elsewhere,” he said.

On the shelter side, the average Canadian home spent $17,509.

“Households in Alberta reported the highest average spending on shelter at $21,642, while those in New Brunswick averaged the lowest at $12,171,” the survey said.

As for food, Alberta homes spent $10,171 for the year.

“On average, households spent $8,629 on food in 2015, accounting for 14.3 per cent of their total household spending on goods and services,” the survey said. “Households spent an average of $6,126 on food purchased from stores, and an average of $2,502 on food purchased from restaurants.”

Although the recession began in 2014, by all indications, 2016 was much worse than the year before, due primarily to job losses and retraction in the oil and gas sector.

While 2016’s data numbers will give a more thorough look at how Albertans adjusted to the downturn, Tombe suggests there will be significant changes in certain components of household spending, rather than a massive overall decrease in consumption.

“I’m thinking about new car sales in particular, they have taken quite a big hit, they’re what I think the largest pull back that households do, are these big-ticket, durable items that they can really delay,” he said.

As for possible food adjustments, Tombe is interested on how meat consumption may have changed last year.

“Alberta households typically spend about $400 or so more on meat than say Saskatchewan, B.C. and Manitoba, so that’s a pretty substantial amount more,” he said. “You could change the composition of the food that you buy to lower that component of the budget.”

For the full report, click here:

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