StatsCAN Plus

Statistics Canada's look at the week.

Every two years, the Survey of Household Spending releases detailed data on the average household expenditures on a wide range of items and categories of products. The latest data are from 2023, when the average expenditure per household on food from stores was $8,659, up 7.4% from 2021.

The streets of Toronto will be pulsating with the rhythmic sounds of Caribbean music in the days ahead. To kick off the Toronto Caribbean Carnival, let’s take a look through a musical and trade lens at the 774,510 Canadians who reported being of Caribbean ethnicity in the 2021 Census of Population, with a focus on the six largest Caribbean communities in Canada today.

“We are the navvies who work upon the railway,” sang Gordon Lightfoot on New Year’s Day 1967, in his song the Canadian Railway Trilogy, which was written to mark Canada’s Centennial celebrations. Unlike those who toiled upon the railway 140 years ago, a small share of the 34,817 Canadians working in the railway industry in 2023 would be deemed “navvies,” and their rates of pay are substantially higher than the dollar-a-day mentioned in Lightfoot’s song.

Statistics Canada's look at the week.

We have no comment whatsoever on the desirability, durability or aesthetics of decks compared with patios; strict neutrality is our motto. We can, however, provide a detailed picture of how prices have changed over time to install these features in 15 select housing markets across Canada, thanks to our quarterly Residential Renovation Price Index. The bottom line is that prices to install a deck have grown at a faster pace than those for patios nationally, mostly due to higher lumber costs.

In the second quarter of 2025, close to two in five (38.8%) businesses in the food services and drinking places subsector (which also includes food service contractors, caterers, and food trucks) expected to raise prices over the next three months. 

In 2024, Statistics Canada surveyed First Nations people living off reserve, Métis and Inuit on a number of topics, through the new Survey Series on First Nations People, Métis and Inuit.

Statistics Canada's look at the week.

These stirring lyrics from La Marseillaise will likely echo through French communities across Canada on July 14, which commemorates Bastille Day. If you are looking to celebrate in Canada this year, your best bet is to head to Montréal, home to just over half of the 121,525 people who had immigrated from France to Canada at the time of the 2021 Census of Population.