Canadians’ spending on shelter accounted for 28.0% of household costs, followed by transportation (20.6%) and food (13.6%), according to the latest report by the government statistics gathering agency, Statistics Canada.
The survey released Thursday (January 22), covered household spending in 2013. And although the percentage share of costs were “virtually unchanged from 2012, households spent “an average of $16,387 on shelter in 2013, up 3.6% from 2012, and “an average of $12,041 on transportation in 2013, up 7.4% from 2012.”
According to journalist Tavia Grant of the Globe and Mail newspaper “The survey is important because it is used to help determine the weighting of the consumer price index, and as an input to calculate the country’s gross domestic product. Governments also rely on it to help develop social policies.”
There is a huge contrast in spending between the fifth of Canadian households with the lowest incomes who spent 49.5 per cent of their income on shelter, food and clothing and accessories, and the highest fifth of households with highest income who spent 28.6 per cent.
More information:
Statistics Canada – Survey of Household Spending, 2013 – here
Globe and Mail/Tavia Grant – Canadians spending greater share of budgets on transportation, mortgages – here
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