Consumer spending in Canada grew by 4.77 per cent in the third quarter of 2016 year-over-year, according to a debit and credit payments processing company.
The MonerisMetrics Quarterly Report was released by Moneris Solutions Corporation, “one of North America’s largest processors of debit and credit payments,” the company said in a press release Oct. 20.
The third quarter of 2015 saw an increase of 6.68 per cent relative to the third quarter of 2014.
“We are closing in on eight consecutive quarters of growth across nearly all major consumer categories,” said Angela Brown, president and CEO of Moneris. “Over the last few quarters, we have seen a trend toward a larger share of credit card versus debit card payments, which could be driven by a combination of factors, including the shift to online shopping, popularity of contactless payments, and Canadians’ preference for loyalty and rewards programs.”
Relative to 2015, consumer spending rose by 2.65 per cent in July, 5.93 per cent in August and 4.97 per cent in September. These findings are consistent with other economic indicators, including a report by Statistics Canada showing positive GDP growth in July.
With the exception of Alberta, all provinces showed positive spending increases in the third quarter of 2016. British Columbia (7.08 per cent) and Quebec (6.88 per cent) were among the provinces posting the highest growth.
This marks the fourth consecutive quarter of spending decreases in Alberta, with a drop of 2.66 per cent year over year.
