With inflation at a nearly 40-year high, Canadians are feeling the financial strain. In a six-part series this summer, The Canadian Press is speaking to people at different stages of life to see where they’re being hit the hardest. This story details the experiences of parents with young children.
——
Carlyne St Jules may have to cut her family vacation short this year, thanks to soaring inflation.
“Everything out here, it’s $300 and up,” she says of hotel rooms in Montreal, where she has family and previously studied dance.
“To fill my tank … to come here it was like $89. I have a small four-door Kia.”
St Jules, a 29-year-old event co-ordinator who now lives in New York City with her three children, ages two, seven and 10, says she “brought them out here so they can see my old stomping grounds — but I don’t know how much I’ll be stomping around here with these prices.”
From ballooning grocery bills to pricier extracurricular activities, parents are confronting cost-of-living increases that have them worried about opportunities for their children and a stable financial future for their family.
Inflation hit a 39-year high in June amid an economy hampered by COVID-19, labour shortages, supply chain challenges and the looming threat of a recession.
Money doesn’t stretch as far these days on everything from diapers to daycare and family outings and vacations are harder on the wallet as the cost to fill up your gas tank soars and prices for travel accommodations rise.
Young parents aren’t accustomed to such speedy price hikes; many weren’t born yet when inflation last hit this pace in 1983.
Mortgage and rent, along with car loans take some of the biggest bites out of parents’ incomes, said Scott Hannah, CEO of the Credit Counselling Society.
For drivers, prices at the pump have increased even faster — gasoline prices for June, the most recent month available, were 54.6 higher than in the same month in 2021, Statistics Canada data show, the biggest driver of inflation in that period.
Those financial drains are “really hurting a lot of Canadians now,” he said. Meanwhile appetites grow, clothes need replacing and extracurricular sports, classes and activities mount. “If you’ve got a young family, it’s the most expensive part of your years.
“I’ll be 65 next February — it’s hard to say that — and back when I was a kid it wasn’t that big of a deal if you didn’t have the latest and greatest. But boy, it sure is now,” Hannah said of the pressure of consumer trends.
For Montreal residents Nabil and Samia Haliche, bigger grocery bills and toll at the pumps have pushed them to hunt harder for food sales.
“We see it clearly at the grocery store,” said Samia, after she and her husband stepped out of a second-hand clothing store in Montreal with their two daughters, ages two and 10.
“Everything is more expensive than usual.”
Families with young children often have one parent on parental leave, off work or working part-time, adding to the financial strain.
Housing prices and rents also shot up throughout the pandemic. The national home price index, which adjusts for pricing volatility, peaked at $835,000 in March, capping off a two-year climb of 52 per cent, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association. Prices spiralled upward in a frantic buying streak that saw families stretch budgets to enter the market or upgrade to more spacious digs amid COVID-19 confinement and rock-bottom rates.
The average Canadian rent leaped 9.5 per cent in June from a year earlier, though remained 3.5 per cent below June 2019, according to Rentals.ca, an apartment-search website.
“A lot of young families in the last two years have used this opportunity, No. 1, to start their family, and No. 2, to get into that first home,” said Leah Zlatkin, a mortgage expert at LowestRates.ca.
Many pushed their budgets to the limit to make down payments and monthly interest — which promptly began to rise as the Bank of Canada started raising its key interest rate.
“For those people, when you see a variable-rate increase it could be a bit shocking,” Zlatkin said.
For homeowners worried about their situation, Zlatkin suggested sitting down with a mortgage broker to discuss refinancing. If payments seem beyond their means at the moment, she said clients should immediately inform their mortgage provider, who can offer a payment deferral program or temporary interest-only payment plan.
A clear-eyed look at what can be removed from the budget — or replaced with less expensive options — is also called for.
“Late night while you’re bottle-feeding or breast-feeding the baby, flip through the Flipp app and find some deals and do some price matching when you’re in the grocery store.”
Hannah suggests buying in bulk — small families can team up with larger ones — cashing in loyalty points and swapping name brands for generic ones. Even a slightly awkward conversation with family members to lower holiday gift expectations may be wise.
“No one wants to receive a gift from someone who can’t afford to give it,” he said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published August 3, 2022.
TORONTO – Canada Goose Holdings Inc. says it has signed a deal that will result in the creation of its first eyewear collection.
The deal announced on Thursday by the Toronto-based luxury apparel company comes in the form of an exclusive, long-term global licensing agreement with Marchon Eyewear Inc.
The terms and value of the agreement were not disclosed, but Marchon produces eyewear for brands including Lacoste, Nike, Calvin Klein, Ferragamo, Longchamp and Zeiss.
Marchon plans to roll out both sunglasses and optical wear under the Canada Goose name next spring, starting in North America.
Canada Goose says the eyewear will be sold through optical retailers, department stores, Canada Goose shops and its website.
Canada Goose CEO Dani Reiss told The Canadian Press in August that he envisioned his company eventually expanding into eyewear and luggage.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
Almost seven years since news broke of an alleged conspiracy to fix the price of packaged bread across Canada, the saga isn’t over: the Competition Bureau continues to investigate the companies that may have been involved, and two class-action lawsuits continue to work their way through the courts.
Here’s a timeline of key events in the bread price-fixing case.
Oct. 31, 2017: The Competition Bureau says it’s investigating allegations of bread price-fixing and that it was granted search warrants in the case. Several grocers confirm they are co-operating in the probe.
Dec. 19, 2017: Loblaw and George Weston say they participated in an “industry-wide price-fixing arrangement” to raise the price of packaged bread. The companies say they have been co-operating in the Competition Bureau’s investigation since March 2015, when they self-reported to the bureau upon discovering anti-competitive behaviour, and are receiving immunity from prosecution. They announce they are offering $25 gift cards to customers amid the ongoing investigation into alleged bread price-fixing.
Jan. 31, 2018: In court documents, the Competition Bureau says at least $1.50 was added to the price of a loaf of bread between about 2001 and 2016.
Dec. 20, 2019: A class-action lawsuit in a Quebec court against multiple grocers and food companies is certified against a number of companies allegedly involved in bread price-fixing, including Loblaw, George Weston, Metro, Sobeys, Walmart Canada, Canada Bread and Giant Tiger (which have all denied involvement, except for Loblaw and George Weston, which later settled with the plaintiffs).
Dec. 31, 2021: A class-action lawsuit in an Ontario court covering all Canadian residents except those in Quebec who bought packaged bread from a company named in the suit is certified against roughly the same group of companies.
June 21, 2023: Bakery giant Canada Bread Co. is fined $50 million after pleading guilty to four counts of price-fixing under the Competition Act as part of the Competition Bureau’s ongoing investigation.
Oct. 25 2023: Canada Bread files a statement of defence in the Ontario class action denying participating in the alleged conspiracy and saying any anti-competitive behaviour it participated in was at the direction and to the benefit of its then-majority owner Maple Leaf Foods, which is not a defendant in the case (neither is its current owner Grupo Bimbo). Maple Leaf calls Canada Bread’s accusations “baseless.”
Dec. 20, 2023: Metro files new documents in the Ontario class action accusing Loblaw and its parent company George Weston of conspiring to implicate it in the alleged scheme, denying involvement. Sobeys has made a similar claim. The two companies deny the allegations.
July 25, 2024: Loblaw and George Weston say they agreed to pay a combined $500 million to settle both the Ontario and Quebec class-action lawsuits. Loblaw’s share of the settlement includes a $96-million credit for the gift cards it gave out years earlier.
Sept. 12, 2024: Canada Bread files new documents in Ontario court as part of the class action, claiming Maple Leaf used it as a “shield” to avoid liability in the alleged scheme. Maple Leaf was a majority shareholder of Canada Bread until 2014, and the company claims it’s liable for any price-fixing activity. Maple Leaf refutes the claims.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
Companies in this story: (TSX:L, TSX:MFI, TSX:MRU, TSX:EMP.A, TSX:WN)
TORONTO – TD Bank Group, which is mired in a money laundering scandal in the U.S., says chief executive Bharat Masrani will retire next year.
Masrani, who will retire officially on April 10, 2025, says the bank’s, “anti-money laundering challenges,” took place on his watch and he takes full responsibility.
The bank named Raymond Chun, TD’s group head, Canadian personal banking, as his successor.
As part of a transition plan, Chun will become chief operating officer on Nov. 1 before taking over the top job when Masrani steps down at the bank’s annual meeting next year.
TD also announced that Riaz Ahmed, group head, wholesale banking and president and CEO of TD Securities, will retire at the end of January 2025.
TD has taken billions in charges related to ongoing U.S. investigations into the failure of its anti-money laundering program.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
