Ontario Ranked 2nd in Annual Spending Report

Sunday, 26 July 2015 09:35

The province is up 8.2% in consumer spending compared to one year ago

OXFORD COUNTY - Oxford County is enjoying healthy numbers following the release of the Second Quarter Annual Spending Report that shows the province is up 8.2% from the same quarter, 1 year ago.

Ontario is ranked 2nd in the country trailing BC that came in at 9.2%. With the Canadian Dollar dropping to the lowest level since 2004, Chief Product and Marketing Officer with Moneris, Rob Cameron, talks about the impact it could have on spending. "There's no question that it's going to keep more people at home. We'll see less of those tourist dollars that are spent abroad, and they will probably come back to Canada, that will be good for Canadian retail. The other good thing that we are going to see is an increase in tourism, suggesting that people from other countries are coming to Canada, and we're seeing big growth from our merchants from Chinese residents which is positive." Moneris, the company releasing the numbers, is Canada’s largest credit and debit organization that processes 1 in 3 Canadian merchants. The significant rise in spending will not only help the province but will also go into assisting the local economy here in Oxford County. Cameron also added that the Pan Am Games greatly impacted Toronto seeing week over week increases.

Cameron, explains what the projections are looking into the future. "What we saw is about an 8% increase against the same quarter one year ago, and so to continue to see consumer spending more, shows confidence and that is very positive for the economy. We saw in 2014 3/4 of flat growth and we saw Canadians outspending more again this quarter, so it is positive directionally for retail." An influx of tourists is also another reason for the high percentages as over half a million Chinese tourists will visit Canada in 2015.

With the talks of the possibility of Canada heading into another recession Ontario and Oxford County are fairing well in terms of spending. Cameron, goes into detail what residents of Ontario are spending their money on. "Restaurants continue to be a growth category, fast food in particular up 12.5% nationally, and I think that just reflects how busy Canadians are. Household spending, people are out buying stuff to improve their homes, the other big winner where we saw a 10% increase was women's accessories. They're are a few good things happening in the Canadian economy and we shouldn't lose sight of those."