Here’s what Ontario experts say you need to know about the cost of the holidays
There is a few optimism within the tea leaves this vacation season whilst excessive costs and rates of interest pinch the pockets of Ontarians – that’s the message from trade consultants.
CTV News Toronto spoke to retail, journey, agriculture and meals specialists to seek out out what customers have to know as the arrival calendar ticks down in days.
Here’s their insights and suggestions.
RETAIL
The retail trade is trying “cautiously optimistic” this vacation season, Lisa Hutcheson, Managing Partner of Toronto-based J.C. Williams Group, stated.
In massive half, she stated that’s as a result of customers are spending in another way than in earlier years, profiting from offers and reductions.
She pointed to Black Friday and Cyber Monday outcomes – up greater than seven per cent and nearly 10 per cent respectively – as a testomony to this.
Customers are factoring in inflation once they search for offers, she added, with the Bank of Canada holding its key rate of interest regular at 5 per cent on Wednesday.
“[They are] proactively looking at ways to get the most value for their dollar,” Hutcheson stated.
Eighty-three per cent of 1,507 Canadians surveyed by consulting agency KPMG between Oct. 20 and Nov. 2 stated they’re being extra cautious about spending cash this yr in contrast with final yr.
Hutcheson’s message: “As a consumer, if you see something that fits within your budget, you should buy it.”
TRAVEL
Like the retail trade, there’s a way of optimism on the subject of journey this vacation season, Barry Choi, a Toronto-based private finance and journey skilled, stated.
“We’re seeing overall record demand. I’m hearing numbers exceeding pre-pandemic,” he added.
While journey could be very costly proper now, Choi stated even households slicing again are prioritizing journey as a luxurious expense they’re prepared to splurge on.
To save on journey, Choi recommends planning as far out as potential, flying between Tuesday and Thursday and taking evening flights, which are typically cheaper than mornings.
“The demand for journey is clearly again,” Choi stated.
CHRISTMAS TREES
Christmas tree costs in Canada are up 5 per cent in comparison with final yr, in accordance with Shirley Brennan, Executive Director of Christmas Tree Farmers of Ontario.
“That is solely because the cost of running farms has gone up,” Brennan stated.
She listed the excessive price of fertilizer, insurance coverage, hydro and labour as a handful of causes for the uptick in agricultural prices.
As a end result, she stated there was a rise within the gross sales of smaller bushes. “There is a price point for everyone,” she stated.
Brennan encourages customers to step outdoors of their consolation zone to discover totally different species, sizes, and costs this yr.
FOOD
Traditional vacation dishes may have to remain on the backburner this season, in accordance with a brand new report by Dalhousie University’s Agri-Food Analytics Lab.
In specific, the price of turkey is up 5 per cent, potatoes are up 6.6 per cent and carrots have risen 12.8 per cent.
The report lists adversarial climate, geopolitical occasions, and labour disputes as some elements driving up the fee.
However, the lab factors out that large meals additionally imply leftovers, which in flip lowers the general per-person price of a meal to about $9.48.
