The first quarter numbers are in.
Spending in Canada is up nearly 4% compared to the same period last year and B.C. is one of the provinces that’s leading the charge.
As a country, spending rose 3.49% on a year-over-year basis, according to a report from Moneris.
Spending in B.C. rose 4.26%, which is third amongst Canadian provinces.
Quebec led the way in spending increases at 5.5% growth compared to the first quarter of 2016, while New Brunswick’s 4.6% growth was also more than B.C.
Manitoba and Ontario also saw spending growth over 4%, while Alberta and Newfoundland were the only two provinces with decreases in spending.
Nationwide trends show that the major increases came in January and March, while spending in February 2017 only increased 0.7% compared to February 2016.
The biggest nationwide spending increases came at fast food restaurants (+13.59%) and florists (+12.22%), but in B.C. it appears that hotels (+8.88%) and restaurants (+7.36%) saw the biggest increase.
Maybe the most telling statistic of all, however, is that contactless spending like tapping cards or phone apps increased by a whopping 62.17% year-over-year.
Overall spending is up, but according to Moneris the trends suggest that 2017 will be a year of moderate spending compared to 2015 and 2016.
