Statistics Canada
Symbol of the Government of Canada

Survey of Household Spending

Warning View the most recent version.

Archived Content

Information identified as archived is provided for reference, research or recordkeeping purposes. It is not subject to the Government of Canada Web Standards and has not been altered or updated since it was archived. Please "contact us" to request a format other than those available.

The Daily


Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Household spending in 2006 continued to show the effects of the strong resource economy in the West. Spending growth in Alberta surpassed all other provinces by a wide margin.

On average, each Canadian household spent $48,770 on goods and services, up 4.6% from 2005. This was above the inflation rate of 2.0% as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI).

Average household spending in Alberta for goods and services increased by 14% over 2005 to $59,740, the largest year-over-year increase for one province ever recorded by this survey. Prince Edward Island showed the second largest growth (+8%) from the previous year. Saskatchewan and Quebec also reported growth above the national average.

The slowest growth in spending on goods and services was in Manitoba, where it rose by only 1%, and in Ontario where this figure grew by just under 2%.

Newfoundland and Labrador still reported the lowest average household spending on goods and services in 2006 at $39,520.

Basics still account for largest shares

The largest shares of Canadian household budgets were for personal taxes (20%), shelter (19%) and transportation (14%).

Personal taxes increased slightly to an average of $13,630. However, at 20% of the average household budget this represented the lowest share since the 1992 survey.

Spending on shelter rose 5% to an average of $12,990, largely the result of increases in spending of 14% in Alberta, 7% in Saskatchewan, and 6% in British Columbia. Shelter costs in Alberta rose by 10% in 2006, according to the CPI.

Household spending on transportation rose 4% at the national level, to an average of $9,240, but at the provincial level, trends varied widely. Households in Alberta spent an average of $12,160 on transportation, up 19% from 2005. Spending on vehicle purchases alone was up 22% over the previous year in this province.


Note to readers

This release is based on data from the 2006 Survey of Household Spending (SHS). Data were collected by personal interviews conducted from January to April 2007 from a sample of more than 21,000 private households in all 10 provinces. The survey gathered detailed information on spending patterns, dwelling characteristics, and household equipment in 2006.

Since 1999, the SHS has included households in the northern territories in odd numbered years. The 2006 data in this release represent the 10 provinces only. The 2005 data for Canada represent the 10 provinces and the territories.

The average spending for a specific good or service is calculated for all households, including those with and those without expenditures for the category, unless otherwise noted. Average spending includes sales taxes. "Personal taxes" referred to in this report refer to income and certain direct taxes.

Comparisons of expenditures between years in this release are not adjusted for inflation. The rate of inflation for selected items is mentioned where it affects the analysis of year-to-year changes in spending.

To analyze the data by income level, households were divided into five groups or quintiles based on income. Each quintile represents one-fifth of all households. They are created by ranking households in ascending order of total household income, and organizing them into five groups of equal number. Users should note that households in the lowest quintile have 1.5 members on average, compared to households in the highest quintile, which average 3.5 members.

To streamline and simplify collection there have been some important changes in the methodology for 2006. Data for 2002 to 2005 have been revised to be more comparable to the new methodology, which may affect comparisons with previous years for some purposes. For more details, see the User Guide for the Survey of Household Spending, 2006 (62F0026MIE2008001), which is now available from the Publications module of our website. Revised data for 2002 to 2005 are available on CANSIM and in the publication Spending Patterns in Canada (62-202-XWE, free) which is also available on our website. Revised data for years prior to 2002 will be made available at a later date.


Spending for purchases of vehicles was up 12% in British Columbia and 10% in both Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador, while Ontario households reported 10% less spending for vehicles. The proportion of Ontarians buying vehicles in 2006 was similar to previous years, but the average amount spent per purchase was down. Although the price of gasoline rose 5% in Ontario, average spending for fuel dropped 1%.

Canadians used public transportation more in 2006, with spending increasing 17% to $970. Most of this was for air travel, which increased by 22% to $530 per household. Spending for city commuter bus, subway and other means of public transport rose by 11% to $220.

Spending on clothing increased a strong 13% to an average of $2,870 in 2006. Canadians also spent 9% more on household furnishings, raising the average to $2,130.

Households spent slightly more on food, with the average increasing from $6,980 in 2005 to $7,050 in 2006. However, as a proportion of total spending it was the lowest ever. In the 1960s, food represented the largest proportion of household expenditure, accounting for nearly 19% of total spending. However, this proportion has declined constantly since then to just over 10% of total spending in 2006.

Wireless communication takes a bigger share

Household spending on cell phone and other wireless services was up more than 18% from 2005 to an average of $470. At the same time, spending for conventional landline telephone service continued to fall, dropping 3% to $650.

Over two-thirds (68%) of households reported owning at least one cell phone, up from 64% in 2005. Moreover, 1 in 5 households reported owning two cell phones, while 1 in 10 households had three or more.

Some 644,000 households, or 1 in 20 of the total, reported they used cell phones only and had no conventional landline phone. Of these, nearly 80% were renters, and 60% were one person households.

Households in Alberta reported the highest spending on communications, $1,900, up 15% from the previous year.

Calgary was the most wireless city, with 87% of households having a cell phone. Households in Calgary spent $750 on average on cell phones in 2006, more than they did on conventional phone lines ($700).

Quebec posted the lowest average spending on communications at $1,120, and also continued to report the lowest rate of cell phone ownership. Only 56% of Quebec households owned a cell phone.

Record number of households bought new computer hardware

A record 31% of households reported buying new computer hardware, although average spending remained unchanged at $290 per household. Computer equipment prices fell by 18% in 2006, according to the CPI.

More than three-quarters of all households reported owning a computer in 2006. Nearly 97% of the highest income households had a computer, and 93% had internet access from home. In comparison, 45% of households in the lowest income group had a computer, and one-third had home access to the internet.

Average spending on internet access services rose 12% in 2006 to $270. This was in part the result of a 6% increase in households with home internet access (to 68%) combined with a 14% increase in households with high-speed service. Only 1 in 10 households still reported using dial-up service.

Entertainment: Ownership of DVD players surpass VCRs for first time

Households spent 38% more in 2006 on new audio equipment, such as digital music players, and 16% more on new video equipment, including big-screen TVs. For the first time, more households reported owning a DVD player (83%) than a VCR (82%).

While spending on digital cameras grew 6%, spending for conventional cameras declined by 29%, and that for film and processing was down 8%.

Spending on movies, the most common entertainment service, fell 8% to $97 per household.

Spending on reading materials decreased 5% to $260 per household. Spending on newspapers declined 7%, while expenditures for periodicals and magazines dropped 10%. Alberta households bucked this trend, spending 8% more on reading materials than in 2005. Households in Prince Edward Island were the biggest newspaper buyers, spending an average of $114 per year.

Alberta households reported the highest spending in nearly every entertainment category. On average, they spent $150 for live performing arts (+28%), $120 on live sports (+81%), $210 on audio equipment (+37%), and $470 on video equipment (+65%).

Health care up, tobacco products down

Health care accounted for $1,870 from the average household budget in 2006, a 6% gain from 2005.

This was the result of an 11% increase in reported out-of-pocket spending for pharmaceutical products.

Households in Alberta reported the highest average spending on health care, at $2,440, followed by those in British Columbia at $2,180.

Canadian households spent $610 on tobacco products in 2006, about the same as in 2005, but 25% less than the peak of $815 reported in 1992. Using 2001 prices, households in 1969 spent the equivalent of $1,400 a year on tobacco products

Net spending on games of chance was down 5% to $260. The decline occurred in non-government bingos and raffle tickets.

Food, shelter, clothing account for over half of spending by lowest income households

The one-fifth of Canadian households with the lowest income spent about $23,780 in 2006. Of this, almost 50% went to food, shelter and clothing. Personal income taxes claimed 3% of their budget.

In contrast, the top fifth of households spent an average of $137,820 in 2006. They allocated about 28% of their budget to food, shelter and clothing, while 29% went to personal income taxes.

These proportions were similar to 2005.

Available on CANSIM: tables 203-0001 to 203-0020.

Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number 3508.

The publication Spending Patterns in Canada, 2006 (62-202-XWE, free), which presents the latest results of the Survey of Household Spending for Canada, the provinces and selected metropolitan areas is now available from the Publications module our website.

Two tables presenting spending data are available for free. From the Summary tables section of our website, choose Canada and the provinces and selected metropolitan areas. A third table, with data on dwelling characteristics and household equipment, is also available for free.

The publication Household Expenditures Research Paper Series: “User Guide for the Survey of Household Spending, 2006” (62F0026MIE2008001), which presents information about survey methodology, concepts, and data quality, is available online. From the Publications module, choose Free internet publications, then Personal finance and household finance.

Also available are 10 detailed tables at a cost of $134 each. Of these 10 tables, 5 present detailed household spending data: Canada, Provinces, Territories and Selected Metropolitan Areas (62F0031XDB); Household Income Quintile, Canada and Provinces (62F0032XDB); Housing Tenure, Canada (62F0033XDB); Household Type, Canada (62F0034XDB); Size of Area of Residence, Canada (62F0035XDB).

The remaining 5 tables present data on dwelling characteristics and household equipment: Canada, Provinces, Territories and Selected Metropolitan Areas (62F0041XDB); Income Quintile, Canada (62F0042XDB); Housing Tenure, Canada (62F0043XDB); Household Type, Canada (62F0044XDB); Size of Area of Residence, Canada (62F0045XDB).

Custom tabulations are also available.

For more information about the Survey of Household Spending, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, or to purchase products, contact Client Services (toll-free 1-888-297-7355; 613-951-7355; income@statcan.gc.ca), Income Statistics Division.

Tables. Table(s).