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Grocery prices on the burner ahead of Thanksgiving
Between those looking for deals on turkey for Thanksgiving weekend and efforts from Ottawa to tackle food inflation, eyes across Canada have been on grocery flyers this week.
The good news from the Turkey Farmers of Canada this week is that supplies of the popular plucked poultry heading into Thanksgiving are “abundant,” with “only a few isolated cases” of avian flu impacting domestic farms.
“We’re not expecting any shortages heading into the holiday period this year,” Natalie Veles, executive director of the B.C. Turkey Marketing Board, told Global News.
The Thanksgiving long weekend also marks the Liberal government’s deadline for grocers to come up with a plan to stabilize food prices. Innovation Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne unveiled commitments this week from grocers to freeze prices on some staples and struck a new task force to investigate “shrinkflation” and other industry tactics.
These efforts came as new polling suggested some Canadians are increasingly prioritizing cost over nutrition when shopping after more than a year of high inflation at the grocery store.
Read more on how the cost of groceries is shaping Canadians’ shopping habits.
Bond market selloff — what to know
It’s been a busy week on global bond markets, with some benchmark bond yields in both the U.S. and Canada hitting highs not seen in more than a decade.
Experts who spoke to Global News say financial markets across the world are adjusting their expectations for interest rates that now see the cost of borrowing remaining higher for longer as inflation pressures prove persistent.
That, in turn, is pushing up bond yields and is driving some “uncertainty” in the stock market, said Steve Locke, chief investment officer at Mackenzie Investments.
The recent shifts in financial markets offer up a good opportunity for investors to “rebalance” their portfolios after more than a decade of relatively low interest rates might’ve seen investments weighted too heavily in equities, he told Global News.
“We think that there’s good opportunity around in the bond market today and investors would be well-suited to think about, if they haven’t rebalanced in a while, those areas and reintroducing or adding a little bit of exposure there,” he said.
Read more about what a surging bond market could mean for the Bank of Canada’s interest rate decisions.
What Canadian parents are spending to raise a child
It’s more expensive than ever to raise a child in Canada these days.
According to recent data released by Statistics Canada, a middle-income family with two parents and two children spends on average $293,000 to raise one kid till the age of 17. Spending was a little higher for high-income earners and a bit less for low-income families.
If the children live five more years in the family home from the age of 18 to 22, that would mean an additional $68,000 to $117,000 spent per kid, and that varies depending on the family size and how much they earn, StatCan said.
Housing and transportation make up more than half of the budget to raise a kid, according to the agency.
The stats, collected between 2014 and 2017, come as Canada’s fertility rate has been on the decline, with a separate StatCan report released recently stating the number of babies born in the country dropped to a 17-year low in 2022.
The higher cost of living is influencing Canadians’ choices to have children, experts tell Global News.
Read more on the cost of raising children in Canada.
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– THE QUESTION –
“I’m about to go on maternity leave for a year. We will likely need to move to a bigger space in the next few years and are thinking about buying for the first time. But I’ve heard it’s difficult to get a mortgage on mat leave. Is it worth going through the mortgage application process? Or should we wait until I am back at work to think about buying? We live in B.C.”
— A Money123 reader
Congratulations on the upcoming addition to your family! You’ll be happy to hear that our banks and mortgage lenders understand the importance of supporting Canadians when they are enjoying that precious first year of parenthood.
As long as you can provide a letter of employment indicating you are on parental leave with an expected return to work date within 12 to 18 months, your regular annual income can be used for mortgage qualifying. In addition, if you qualify for the Canada Child Benefit, that additional income can also help with your mortgage approval.
Timing your move when it’s most convenient for your family is also important, so consider how your maternity leave and return to work might fit into that timeline. From experience, I can share that moving with a baby is significantly easier than juggling a busy toddler and all their toys.
When you’re ready, contact a mortgage professional to explore your options and review your budget to decide if the time is right for you to become a homeowner. Engaging with a mortgage expert early in your journey toward homeownership is very beneficial. They will help you to understand your current credit score, with time to make any necessary adjustments, set income goals, and know how much you’ll need to save for a down payment.
– Nicole Hayes, mortgage broker, BC Mortgage Expert
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