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How much do consumers spend on recreation?

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The tastes and lifestyles of Canadians have undergone profound change over the past 20 years, as have our leisure activities. An underlying factor is that we are buying more and more high-tech entertainment equipment and services, especially as digital technology replaces analogue services.

DVD rentals, satellite television, digital photography, MP3 players-the options keep increasing as the technology gets more innovative and less expensive. In fact, more than one-third of the 9.8 million subscribers to multi-channel video services in 2003 chose digital over analogue.

According to the 2004 Survey of Household Spending, Canadian households spent an average of $3,700 on recreation. About one-quarter of that went to home entertainment systems, computer equipment and photographic equipment. Canadians spent more in 2004 on recreation than five years prior, even taking inflation into account.

Some other findings from the same survey:

• Household spending for live performing arts events is almost double that for live sports events.
• Spending on recreation is greater than RRSP contributions, pension contributions, clothing or furniture purchases, and is even larger than outlays for tobacco products and alcohol combined.
• Householders in Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario spend more than the Canadian average on recreation.
• Ottawa households spend the most of all by far, at $5,330 a year, while those in Calgary were second at $4,930.
• The top three annual household expenditures on recreational activities (excluding vehicles and equipment) are cable and satellite service rentals ($460), package travel tours ($430), and use of sports and recreation facilities ($310).