Latest news with #CreditCounsellingSociety
Cision Canada
4 days ago
- Business
- Cision Canada
Kids Are Out, Costs Are Up, and Canadians Face Summer Spending Pressures Ahead of Rate Announcement
Credit Counselling Society urges Canadians to prepare for summer spending pressures amid a new tone in Ottawa and upcoming rate announcement. NEW WESTMINSTER, BC, June 2, 2025 /CNW/ - With new economic and political conversations taking shape in Ottawa, including Prime Minister Mark Carney, a former Governor of the Bank of Canada, stepping into the spotlight, many Canadians are watching the upcoming interest rate announcement on June 5 for signs of change. But despite shifting signals at the top, the reality for most households remains the same: life is expensive, and this summer won't be any different. "Summer comes with its own set of financial pressures. School is out, the kids need care or activities, and many people feel the pull to travel or make the most of their holiday time," explains Peta Wales, President and CEO of the Credit Counselling Society (CCS). "A rate cut might help those with a variable mortgage or home equity line of credit, but it will not make June, July, and August much cheaper." CCS sees firsthand how Canadians approach this seasonal strain. These findings come from their latest report on Canadian household finances, available here: "Copers" do their best to budget but feel increasingly stretched. Nearly three-quarters of Canadians say spending more on essentials like food, housing, and transportation is a top reason their financial situation has worsened. "Strugglers" rely on credit to make ends meet. In fact, 36 per cent of Canadians reported their debt increased in the past year, and 67 per cent of those with more debt are paying little more than the minimum required, if anything extra at all. "Avoiders" delay dealing with financial stress. One-in-four Canadians only took action on their debt after it reached a critical stage or did not take any action at all. Recognizing that Canadians manage financial stress in different ways, CCS offers guidance tailored to each group to help ease summer spending challenges: For copers who are trying hard to budget but still seem like they are coming up short, summer can make things worse as travel, home renovations, and special events add to the pressure. Regular budget reviews help stay on top of fluctuating costs like increased utility bills or seasonal spending, while also identifying opportunities for savings that can make summer more affordable. For strugglers who rely on credit cards or loans to cover everyday expenses, tracking all spending carefully can help identify small adjustments that add up—especially with kids at home and summer activities in full swing. Prioritizing essentials like food and housing, and exploring local community programs or free events, can help to not sacrifice fun or adding to credit stress. Seeking free credit counselling assistance to tackle your debt is equally important to prevent debt from spiraling—especially before the fall and winter spending seasons arrives. For avoiders who feel overwhelmed and delay dealing with debt, summer can bring added guilt or isolation, especially if they are unable to participate in seasonal activities with friends or family. Reaching out for support now can ease that emotional and financial load. CCS provides confidential, non-judgmental help to create manageable plans tailored to each situation. Early intervention can prevent debt from reaching a critical point and improve peace of mind, before summer stress turns into fall regret. "This might be the first rate announcement under a new political lens, but the financial pressure people feel day-to-day has not relented" states Isaiah Chan, Vice President of Programs and Services at CCS. "Regardless if rates go down or stay the same, the average person is still facing the same pressures at the grocery store, gas pump, and on their summer calendar." "The good news is that no one has to manage this on their own," adds Mason Cox, Director of Counselling at CCS. "Whether it's summer spending or year-round financial stress, we're here to help you build a plan that works, without judgment and without pressure." To speak with a certified credit counsellor, visit or call 1-888-527-8999. About the Credit Counselling Society The Credit Counselling Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping consumers manage their money and debt better. CCS provides free and confidential credit counselling, objective debt repayment options, budgeting assistance, and financial education. Visit SOURCE Credit Counselling Society of BC
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Kids Are Out, Costs Are Up, and Canadians Face Summer Spending Pressures Ahead of Rate Announcement
Credit Counselling Society urges Canadians to prepare for summer spending pressures amid a new tone in Ottawa and upcoming rate announcement. NEW WESTMINSTER, BC, June 2, 2025 /CNW/ - With new economic and political conversations taking shape in Ottawa, including Prime Minister Mark Carney, a former Governor of the Bank of Canada, stepping into the spotlight, many Canadians are watching the upcoming interest rate announcement on June 5 for signs of change. But despite shifting signals at the top, the reality for most households remains the same: life is expensive, and this summer won't be any different. "Summer comes with its own set of financial pressures. School is out, the kids need care or activities, and many people feel the pull to travel or make the most of their holiday time," explains Peta Wales, President and CEO of the Credit Counselling Society (CCS). "A rate cut might help those with a variable mortgage or home equity line of credit, but it will not make June, July, and August much cheaper." CCS sees firsthand how Canadians approach this seasonal strain. These findings come from their latest report on Canadian household finances, available here: "Copers" do their best to budget but feel increasingly stretched. Nearly three-quarters of Canadians say spending more on essentials like food, housing, and transportation is a top reason their financial situation has worsened. "Strugglers" rely on credit to make ends meet. In fact, 36 per cent of Canadians reported their debt increased in the past year, and 67 per cent of those with more debt are paying little more than the minimum required, if anything extra at all. "Avoiders" delay dealing with financial stress. One-in-four Canadians only took action on their debt after it reached a critical stage or did not take any action at all. Recognizing that Canadians manage financial stress in different ways, CCS offers guidance tailored to each group to help ease summer spending challenges: For copers who are trying hard to budget but still seem like they are coming up short, summer can make things worse as travel, home renovations, and special events add to the pressure. Regular budget reviews help stay on top of fluctuating costs like increased utility bills or seasonal spending, while also identifying opportunities for savings that can make summer more affordable. For strugglers who rely on credit cards or loans to cover everyday expenses, tracking all spending carefully can help identify small adjustments that add up—especially with kids at home and summer activities in full swing. Prioritizing essentials like food and housing, and exploring local community programs or free events, can help to not sacrifice fun or adding to credit stress. Seeking free credit counselling assistance to tackle your debt is equally important to prevent debt from spiraling—especially before the fall and winter spending seasons arrives. For avoiders who feel overwhelmed and delay dealing with debt, summer can bring added guilt or isolation, especially if they are unable to participate in seasonal activities with friends or family. Reaching out for support now can ease that emotional and financial load. CCS provides confidential, non-judgmental help to create manageable plans tailored to each situation. Early intervention can prevent debt from reaching a critical point and improve peace of mind, before summer stress turns into fall regret. "This might be the first rate announcement under a new political lens, but the financial pressure people feel day-to-day has not relented" states Isaiah Chan, Vice President of Programs and Services at CCS. "Regardless if rates go down or stay the same, the average person is still facing the same pressures at the grocery store, gas pump, and on their summer calendar." "The good news is that no one has to manage this on their own," adds Mason Cox, Director of Counselling at CCS. "Whether it's summer spending or year-round financial stress, we're here to help you build a plan that works, without judgment and without pressure." To speak with a certified credit counsellor, visit or call 1-888-527-8999. About the Credit Counselling SocietyThe Credit Counselling Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping consumers manage their money and debt better. CCS provides free and confidential credit counselling, objective debt repayment options, budgeting assistance, and financial education. Visit SOURCE Credit Counselling Society of BC View original content to download multimedia: Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Inflation has eased, but grocery prices are up — and British Columbians are struggling
As grocery inflation outpaces overall inflation for the third month in a row, many British Columbians are finding themselves squeezed and increasingly worrying about debt. Canada's inflation rate eased in April, following the federal government's removal of the consumer carbon tax and lower crude oil prices. Despite that, grocery prices saw a 3.8 per cent year-over-year increase last month, up from a year-over-year jump of 3.2 per cent in March. Some non-profits say the higher prices are placing more British Columbians in a crunch. "We're actually seeing people come to us with higher amounts of debt as a result of all that accumulated borrowing and higher costs of living and higher cost of groceries that's stacked up over the last couple of years," says Isaiah Chan, vice-president of programs and services with the Credit Counselling Society. The non-profit, which offers free credit counselling to help people with their monetary challenges, is seeing an increase in the amount of debt among clients coming to them for debt relief assistance — about 14 per cent more compared to the same time last year. Chan says clients are borrowing more expensively, resorting to lines of credit and payday loans despite being aware of the high interest rates. "That to me is indicative of just the general stress — like people are not typically going to borrow at higher costs for luxury items or just sort of wants," Chan says. "They're doing that because they need to." Household spending has gone up across all income groups in Canada, but those making the least are paying proportionally more. From 2021 to 2023, households with the lowest incomes allocated 17.9 per cent of their pay cheques to food and 34.8 per cent to shelter, according to Statistics Canada's latest survey of household spending, released this week. For the highest earning households, those same numbers were 14.6 and 32.2 per cent, respectively. More British Columbians are also expressing concerns about debt. The MNP Consumer Debt Index, in its latest quarterly report last month, found that 58 per cent of the people they surveyed in B.C. expressed "heightened concern" about paying off their debt, up from 49 per cent the previous quarter. The debt index is conducted four times each year and includes just over 2,000 adults across the country. It's accurate within plus or minus 2.5 percentage points 19 times out of 20. The index also found that slightly more British Columbians feel less prepared to handle an interest rate increase of one per cent, and more report being $200 or less away from insolvency — both seeing a two percentage point increase from last quarter. "It just means that people don't have any wiggle room in their budget," says Linda Paul, a licensed insolvency trustee at MNP. "So if there's any sort of unexpected loss of income or irregular expense, like a car repair or something of that nature, they just can't absorb it without having to use credit." She adds that people's financial emergency pools are getting smaller "because they're spending their future money on servicing debt." The grocery-inflation crunch has also been reflected in data around growing food insecurity and demand for food banks, which have gone up in the last year. Alžběta Sabová, director of food security with United Way, says grocery price increases are having "an enormous impact" on families' budgets and priorities, with food often the first to go when resources get funnelled into fixed expenses like rent. The non-profit is seeing upwards of a 15 per cent increase in demand for their food hubs, which offer free groceries and other essentials to people who need them, compared to last year. "We are seeing a lot of parents and a lot of working folks that have one, two, three jobs," Sabová says. "And so I can just imagine that if someone's working already that much and still needs support, there might be some very serious financial constraints." Chan attributes the crunch to major upheavals in the last several years — the COVID-19 pandemic, political uncertainty federally and internationally, and the recent tariff war — paired with salary increases that haven't caught up. He advises preparation and focusing on what's within one's control: minimizing discretionary expenses, having tough conversations with partners and kids about financial priorities, and reaching out to professionals for help around debt. He's also advising that Canadians "hang in there." "It took many years for all of this to really happen," he says. "It's going to take over the course of a few years for these things to unwind and for us to really feel some relief in our, in our pocketbooks."
CBC
25-05-2025
- Business
- CBC
Inflation has eased, but grocery prices are up — and British Columbians are struggling
As grocery inflation outpaces overall inflation for the third month in a row, many British Columbians are finding themselves squeezed and increasingly worrying about debt. Canada's inflation rate eased in April, following the federal government's removal of the consumer carbon tax and lower crude oil prices. Despite that, grocery prices saw a 3.8 per cent year-over-year increase last month, up from a year-over-year jump of 3.2 per cent in March. Some non-profits say the higher prices are placing more British Columbians in a crunch. "We're actually seeing people come to us with higher amounts of debt as a result of all that accumulated borrowing and higher costs of living and higher cost of groceries that's stacked up over the last couple of years," says Isaiah Chan, vice-president of programs and services with the Credit Counselling Society. The non-profit, which offers free credit counselling to help people with their monetary challenges, is seeing an increase in the amount of debt among clients coming to them for debt relief assistance — about 14 per cent more compared to the same time last year. Chan says clients are borrowing more expensively, resorting to lines of credit and payday loans despite being aware of the high interest rates. "That to me is indicative of just the general stress — like people are not typically going to borrow at higher costs for luxury items or just sort of wants," Chan says. "They're doing that because they need to." Household spending has gone up across all income groups in Canada, but those making the least are paying proportionally more. From 2021 to 2023, households with the lowest incomes allocated 17.9 per cent of their pay cheques to food and 34.8 per cent to shelter, according to Statistics Canada's latest survey of household spending, released this week. For the highest earning households, those same numbers were 14.6 and 32.2 per cent, respectively. More British Columbians are also expressing concerns about debt. The MNP Consumer Debt Index, in its latest quarterly report last month, found that 58 per cent of the people they surveyed in B.C. expressed "heightened concern" about paying off their debt, up from 49 per cent the previous quarter. The debt index is conducted four times each year and includes just over 2,000 adults across the country. It's accurate within plus or minus 2.5 percentage points 19 times out of 20. The index also found that slightly more British Columbians feel less prepared to handle an interest rate increase of one per cent, and more report being $200 or less away from insolvency — both seeing a two percentage point increase from last quarter. "It just means that people don't have any wiggle room in their budget," says Linda Paul, a licensed insolvency trustee at MNP. "So if there's any sort of unexpected loss of income or irregular expense, like a car repair or something of that nature, they just can't absorb it without having to use credit." She adds that people's financial emergency pools are getting smaller "because they're spending their future money on servicing debt." The grocery-inflation crunch has also been reflected in data around growing food insecurity and demand for food banks, which have gone up in the last year. Alžběta Sabová, director of food security with United Way, says grocery price increases are having "an enormous impact" on families' budgets and priorities, with food often the first to go when resources get funnelled into fixed expenses like rent. The non-profit is seeing upwards of a 15 per cent increase in demand for their food hubs, which offer free groceries and other essentials to people who need them, compared to last year. "We are seeing a lot of parents and a lot of working folks that have one, two, three jobs," Sabová says. "And so I can just imagine that if someone's working already that much and still needs support, there might be some very serious financial constraints." Chan attributes the crunch to major upheavals in the last several years — the COVID-19 pandemic, political uncertainty federally and internationally, and the recent tariff war — paired with salary increases that haven't caught up. He advises preparation and focusing on what's within one's control: minimizing discretionary expenses, having tough conversations with partners and kids about financial priorities, and reaching out to professionals for help around debt. He's also advising that Canadians "hang in there."
Hamilton Spectator
13-05-2025
- Business
- Hamilton Spectator
‘Prepare for a long recession and hope for a short one': How to financially prepare for economic downturn and job loss
Canada is not in a recession — not yet anyway — but people should be prepared for one, said Peta Wales, president and CEO of Credit Counselling Society, a non-profit organization offering accredited debt counselling. The good news is we're forewarned ahead of the looming economic turbulence, so hopefully people are taking action now, while they're still employed, to prepare for it, Wales said. 'I would say that's a little bit different from the past recessions, like the COVID-induced recession of 2020 or even the Great Recession of 2008. I don't think those recessions had the same level of predictability and forewarning,' she said. Another thing that's different this time around is that the looming potential recession is driven by geopolitics, not as part of a natural economic cycle, meaning the economic recovery may be unpredictable. 'We don't know if this going to be a short recession or a long one, but I would say the prudent approach would be to prepare for a long recession and hope for a short one,' she said. The worst thing that could happen from being overprepared is you end up with more savings than you need and even better spending and saving habits. Being underprepared, on the other hand, may result in some hardship. 'That's why it's so critically important that people take action now because we don't know how long this recession will last. The longer runway you have to prepare, the better off you'll be,' she said. The Credit Counselling Society offers money-saving tips to help people survive a recession. While you can read the guide on the organization's website , it comes down to these five basic tips: Wales added that everyone should be taking a deep dive into their finances and making a budget. And you should be looking at your expenses from as far back as a year ago because certain costs are incurred annually or quarterly, and you may not catch them if you only look at a few months of finances. Once you've done that, you can identify the nondiscretionary expenses such as rent, utility bills, food costs, medical bills and others that must be paid, and the discretionary expenses. You can prioritize the discretionary items you want to keep and eliminate or reduce the others. Once you reduce those expenses, put that money toward an emergency fund. Your emergency fund should have three to six months' worth of income, Wales said. You should be building this emergency fund now, while you're still employed. 'Now is particularly important. We're not quite in a recession yet, but we can see it on the horizon. If you're in a role that is more directly tied to U.S. trade and the challenges that we're experiencing, your job's at risk,' she said 'So, you want to make sure you have an emergency fund built up.' People should also reallocate some of those discretionary dollars toward paying down high-interest debt, as those payments become difficult to manage if you lose your job or end up working reduced hours. Also, don't be afraid to seek help, if you need it. Wales suggests non-profit credit counselling agencies, which can provide free counselling and walk you through dealing with your financial difficulty. 'Canadians today are stretched already, many households are already struggling with higher living costs, higher levels of debt, so preparation is key,' she said. 'We can't control what happens globally, but we can certainly control what happens in our homes, and so there really is no downside to taking a look at your finances now and preparing for what's to come.'
