LibGuides: Data Science (DSCI) 490/491 Capstone Research Guide: Consumer Economic Indictors

Statistics Canada

Statistics Canada - Tax filers and dependants with income by total income, sex and age
Geography: Canada, Province or territory, Census metropolitan area, Census agglomeration, Census metropolitan area part, Census agglomeration part. Frequency: Annual Description: Individuals; Tax filers and dependants by total income, sex and age groups (final T1 Family File; T1FF). This an interactive application that provides the user th capacity to modify the output by clicking on the Add/Remove data button. Data elements include Geography by Canada, Province/Territory, and a list of predetermined local community levels, sex (gender), age group, persons with income, reference period (date range).

Housing, wealth and debt: How are young Canadians adapting to current financial and housing pressures?
Barriers to important life cycle milestones and transitions have intensified in Canada. Sustained food inflation, elevated housing prices, and increasingly unaffordable rental costs across much of the country are casting a shadow over the homeownership dream for many households—and, in particular, for young families.

Statistics Canada - Research to Insights: Disparities in Wealth and Debt Among Canadian Households
The Research to Insights series of presentations features a broad range of findings on selected research topics. Each presentation draws from and integrates evidence from various studies that use innovative and high-quality data and methods to better understand relevant and complex policy issues. Based on applied research of valuable data, the series is intended to provide decision makers, and Canadians more broadly, a comprehensive and horizontal view of the current economic, social and health issues we face in a changing world.

RBC Canadian cardholder spending rebounds in July signalling steady start to Q3
BC cardholder spending in Canada remained resilient in July with core retail sales (excluding autos and gasoline) up 1.1%, reversing June’s contraction..The monthly numbers are volatile, but that leaves the three-month rolling average 0.9% higher. Total RBC cardholder spending1 was 2% above the Q2 average, marking a healthy start to the third quarter. We continue to expect household consumer spending growth will slow in Q3 with international trade disruptions remaining a threat to the outlook. But, we expect it to continue growing at a moderate rate for the remainder of 2025 as labour markets show signs of stabilizing and consumer confidence edges higher from record lows in the spring.

Peer-reviewed article. MacGee, J., Pugh, T. M., & See, K. (2022). The heterogeneous effects of COVID-19 on Canadian household consumption, debt and savings. The Canadian Journal of Economics. Revue Canadienne d’economique, 55(Suppl 1), 54–87. doi https//1
This paper develops an agent-based model to quantify the impact of COVID-19 on household debt and savings. To build a representative cross-section of households that vary by income, debt portfolios and consumption baskets, we merge data from the Survey of Household Spending and the Survey of Financial Security. We construct paths for consumption and employment over the crisis, accounting for heterogeneous risk of unemployment across demographics, government transfers, and substitution between expenditure categories that vary in contact intensity. Our model simulations yield a heterogeneous effect of COVID-19 across the income distribution. Low-income households face the highest risk of unemployment, but transfers provide generous income replacement. Middle-income job losers see the fastest rise in debt because transfers only partially replace lost income. Most unplanned savings are accumulated by high-income households that face lower risk of unemployment and larger declines in hard-to-distance spending. We find the rise in savings could generate a brief jump of nearly 6% of monthly consumption.

Raman, M. (2025). Gen Z is saving for retirement better than millennials: Data shows that Gen Zers invest consistently each year and are contributing more to their RRSPs than millennials were at the same age. The Globe and Mail.
According to new data from TD Bank, 68 per cent of Gen Zers invest consistently each year, more than any other age group. They’re also contributing more to their RRSPs than millennials were at the same age, according to data from Statistics Canada. In 2023, the median RRSP contribution for Canadians under 25 was $1,880, more than 20 per cent more than millennials contributed in 2009, even after adjusting for inflation. "Gen Zs have grown up in an information-rich environment," said Pat Giles, TD’s vice-president of Saving & Investing Journey, the bank’s approach to help Canadians start saving as early as they can. "They’re much more likely to use social media to shape their investing decisions."Many Gen Z Canadians have taught themselves financial basics, with the help of resources in the form of TikToks, YouTube, Reddit or even AI. A June CFA Institute report found that 79 per cent of young Canadians trust online financial education, more than two-thirds use AI tools like ChatGPT for information and 62 per cent turn to influencers and social media.