August can be bittersweet for students as they prepare to return to the classroom. For Canadian merchants–at least this year–not so much. .
Ernst and Young, the world-wide financial services firm, says the sagging Canadian dollar will boost Canadian retailers’ bottom lines during the back-to-school shopping season.
The firm predicts a four per cent increase in back-to-school spending because Canadians will be shopping closer to home, with fewer dollars going across the border to U.S. retailers.
Ernst and Young says recent universal child-care benefit payments doled out by the government last month will likely mean extra spending money for back-to-school.
However, it cautions that economic uncertainty may curb the appetite among consumers to spend.
Ernst and Young says British Columbia and Ontario will lead sales while the Maritimes and Quebec will lag behind the national average.
Alberta and Saskatchewan are typically leaders in the category. However, both provinces are expected to post back-to-school sales in the red.
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