A few years ago, a typical date night for David Yarranton would often involve dinner and cocktails at a trendy restaurant.
But with the cost of living on the rise, the 27-year-old is getting creative. He still enjoys a night out at, but is just as happy to whip up a meal at home or get outside for an afternoon of ice skating and hot chocolate.
“I find that’s equally effective for getting to know someone, without necessarily breaking the bank,” said Yarranton, who lives in Calgary.
The balancing act — between impressing a potential sweetheart and staying on budget (without coming across as cheap) — has always been a part of dating. But with inflation on the rise, it’s getting trickier to strike.
Taking a new love out for dinner costs about eight per cent more than it did last year, according to October numbers from Statistics Canada. Extending the evening with drinks at the bar means coughing up about another four per cent relative to 2021 — on top of the already higher everyday costs of rent and groceries.
That’s left some putting off scheduling dates altogether, while others are keeping their date nights simple by suggesting casual activities rather than elaborate ones, according to recent user surveys from the dating platforms Dating.com, Plenty of Fish and Bumble.
Casual dates gain popularity
The trend away from “fancy” dates and toward more casual ones has shown up in Bree Woolard’s dating life this year.
The 24-year-old, who recently moved from Toronto to Calgary, is about 30 dates into a “50 First Dates” challenge: a self-imposed TikTok experiment intended to help her meet new people in the wake of a breakup.
Bree Woolard is in the midst of a self-imposed TikTok experiment to go on 50 first dates. (Paula Duhatschek/CBC)
Whether it’s due to rising inflation or the change in locale (or a bit of both), she’s noticed the types of dates she’s been invited on has shifted in recent months, with fewer dinners out and a lot more hikes.
There have also been some awkward money moments along the way, such as the time a date brought Woolard to a fancy restaurant where she ended up unexpectedly footing the bill.
“We still had a great time,” said Woolard.
“But I think going forward it’s important — more today than it used to be — to have that conversation up front and say, ‘Hey, I’m just on a budget,’ or, ‘Hey, I’m trying to save costs this month … can we do something different?'”
‘A barometer for the consumer’
Before ever setting foot on a date, some budget-conscious singles are also saving money by pulling back what they spend on dating apps and websites.
Revenues at Plenty of Fish, for example, have been affected by “deteriorating economic conditions,” according to a recent earnings letter from the company Match Group, which also owns Tinder, Hinge and a variety of other dating apps and websites. Other “established” brands, like Match and OkCupid, also saw declines this quarter, the letter said.
Some dating platforms have seen revenues dip as a result of current economic conditions. (iStock/Getty Images)
Inflation has also affected some of these platforms’ “à la carte” offerings, said the company’s chief financial officer during a recent Nasdaq investor conference. In dating app lingo, this could mean, for example, the option to pay money to boost one’s dating profile and get it in front of more people.
“People, they read in the press about layoffs, they read about recession, they’re getting more nervous, and so we’re seeing some pullback,” said Gary Swidler, who is both the COO and CFO of Match Group, and who said this is more common among some demographics, such as younger users. “We are a barometer for the consumer to some extent.”
Bumble Inc., for its part, has told investors it sees an opportunity in the current economic environment: to position the app as way to find a potential match more cheaply than hitting a bar and hoping for the best.
“Our weekly boost subscription costs less than a beer at a New York City bar, and the expense of going on multiple dates in a week really adds up quickly,” said CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd on a recent third-quarter earnings call.
“We’re leaning into this both from a product and marketing perspective.”
Talking money, early
One possible downside of dating on a budget is it can spell tension for couples if they aren’t on the same page about it, says Adam Galovan, who studies couple relationships at the University of Alberta in Edmonton.
“It can be challenging when you have certain expectations, and when you have these costs and periods of inflation when maybe you’re not going out to places that are quite as nice,” said Galovan, an associate professor of family science in the university’s department of human ecology.
And while finances are a common area of tension in any relationship, Galovan noted it can be particularly tricky to navigate in the early stages.
Adam Galovan, an associate professor of family science at the University of Alberta, says it can be tough to talk about money at the outset of a relationship, when people are trying to put their best foot forward. (John Ulan)
“I’m a big proponent of communicating and talking through things,” said Galovan.
“But in the dating scene, sometimes you’re trying to impress or put the best foot forward, and so those conversations may be a little bit hard to have initially.”
Difficult conversations notwithstanding, anthropologist Helen Fisher believes an openness toward inexpensive outings is, to some degree, a reflection of greater maturity on the part of daters and part of what she describes as a trend toward “smart dating.”
Still courting, but trimming back
Fisher, who is also Match’s chief science advisor, is part of an annual research project commissioned by the dating platform that surveys singles across the U.S.
This year, it found a greater share of respondents expressed a preference for casual dates, and a vast majority listed similar attitudes about debt and spending as important traits in a partner.
A growing number said they were also more open to doing free activities on dates, or going somewhere close to home to save money on gas. Compared to previous years, a larger number said they were also taking video calls with potential suitors before spending money and energy on an in-person date, Fisher said.
“People are still courting, but they are trimming back to save money, no question about it,” said Fisher, who believes the trends in her study also apply to Canada and other urbanized countries.
“They’re less interested in what you look like and more interested in whether you are financially stable.”
A recent survey of U.S. singles commissioned by Match.com suggests financial stability is becoming more of a desired trait. (Shutterstock/Monkey Business)
Being intentional
As for Bree Woolard, she’s still got nearly 20 dates left to go — but is taking a temporary breather to give her brain, her heart and her wallet a bit of a break.
“Christmas … is a lot of cost, so I’m focusing on where do I want to spend that? It’s mainly with friends and family,” she said.
“I think you have to be in the right mindset to date, so [I’m] waiting till I feel that again.”
Yarranton, for his part, has started seeing someone more regularly. And while part of the early-relationship fun is in planning special trips and outings together, he said these days he’s taking care to plan and budget in advance.
“I don’t think [inflation] should keep you from living your life,” he said.
“You just have to be a bit more intentional about where you’re putting your money.”
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
