(Ottawa) A survey conducted last April shows that rising consumer prices have already affected the ability of three out of four Canadians to meet their daily expenses such as transportation, housing, food and clothing.
Posted at 9:20 a.m.
The survey released Thursday by Statistics Canada found that many Canadians have changed their behavior to adjust to the rising cost of living, including adjusting their spending habits and postponing buying a home or moving to a new rental unit.
Of the Canadians surveyed, 43% said rising food costs were the most affected in the six months prior to the survey. The other most cited areas were transport at 32%, housing at 9% and current household expenses at 8%.
Residents of urban areas said that the cost of food affected them the most, while transportation costs were more of a concern for residents of rural areas.
To cope with rising prices, half of Canadians said they had researched sales and sales in the past six months. At the same time, 47% bought substitutes, brands or less expensive items and 45% postponed their purchase in response to rising prices.
In addition, 27% of Canadians said they had to borrow money from friends or relatives, take on more debt or resort to credit to cover their daily expenses.
The survey also indicates that one in five Canadians expects to purchase food or meals from a community organization in the next six months.
And about 24% of Canadians said they had to dip into their savings to pay for their expenses.
Last April, the year-over-year increase in the Consumer Price Index was 6.8% in Canada.