Household Spend
2011 Household Spend from EA provides estimates of average annual expenditures for a wide range of goods and services for Canadian households for small areas – Dissemination Areas (DA) of Statistics Canada. This product is used to estimate spending behaviour of Canadians at any geographic level, from Canada down to a small retail trade area. The data include both average dollars per household and total dollars, and they relate to the residential addresses of households.
The smallest geographical unit for which the data are available and were derived is the Dissemination Area (DA). There are 54,626 DAs in Canada, with number of households in a DA generally ranging between 250 and 450. The data were derived from the Statistics Canada “Survey of Household Spending.” Household expenditure estimates are available for 239 categories of goods and services; see the separate list of variables that accompanies this documentation. This release relates to the year 2010. The consumption propensities come from the 2003 Statistics Canada survey but all of the other ingredients in Household Spend including households and incomes relate to the current year.
The Household Spend database is based upon Statistics Canada's Survey of Household Spending (SHS) survey. 16,695 pseudo-randomly selected private households across all Provinces and Territories were asked detailed questions on their spending patterns. These data are collected annually by Statistics Canada for a number of purposes including the estimation of the consumer price index. The survey is very well designed and controlled and is very highly respected for its rigour and reliability. The SHS has, since 1997, replaced its long standing predecessor at Statistics Canada - which was called the Family Expenditure Survey (FAMEX).
