Gastown, Vancouver, British Columbia – Photo by Kenny Louie CC by 2.0
While there may be an east-west divide in Canada’s housing market, there’s now evidence there may also be a similar divide when it comes to consumer debt. With no sign of interest rates creeping up anytime soon, consumers are continuing to pile on debt, albeit some faster than others. While demand for debt is up in Western Canada, demand for debt is slowing in Eastern Canada. Let’s break down the latest numbers and see how they affect the average family.
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Consumer spending is vital to the economic growth of nations worldwide, Canada included, as long as we don’t find ourselves in over our head. While corporations are often chastised for holding a record amount of cash on their balance sheets, it’s actually consumer spending that accounts for the lion’s share of economic growth. Let’s take a closer look at Canada’s latest consumer debt numbers from RBC Economics and what they mean to the future of our economy.
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We all know that credit card fees are costly to small businesses, but did you know they’re also costly to cash-strapped municipalities? Alberta may be Canada’s economic engine, but municipalities there, just like in have-not provinces like Ontario and Quebec, find themselves struggling to balance the books.
Municipalities face a unique dilemma – unlike the federal and provincial governments which can run deficits during tough times, municipalities must have balanced budgets. If there’s a budget shortfall the money has to come from somewhere – either spending cuts, or increases in property taxes, road tolls and other user fees.
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Homeowners with variable rate mortgages can breathe a sigh of relief. The Bank of Canada has decided once again to keep the overnight lending rate at 1 per cent. This marks the 30th time in a row Canada’s central bank has left the key interest rate unchanged. In fact, this is the longest stretch in Canadian history interest rates have remained the same.
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Your PIN – short for Personal Identification Number – is a unique four-digit number required to make purchases on credit cards with Chip-and-PIN technology. In today’s society with dozens of usernames and passwords to remember, choosing a credit card PIN that’s easy to remember, yet difficult for fraudsters to figure out, can be challenging.
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While the Internet has made daily tasks like banking and reading the news easier and more convenient, cybersecurity remains a major concern. IT specialists and computer hackers seem to be caught in an endless game of cat and mouse. Despite advancements in security online, there are still major security breaches that grab headlines every day.
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