| Household Debt in Saskatchewan Rising but Not Concern over Spending or Saving (Saskatoon, May 4, 2010) – The financial state of Saskatchewan households continues to deteriorate and household debt in Saskatchewan, as in other provinces, is on the rise. The Certified General Accountants Association (CGA) together with the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce today released a paper on debt and savings in Saskatchewan titled Survey of Household Attitudes to Debt and Consumption – Saskatchewan. “Household debt is an escalating problem in Saskatchewan” says Prabha Vaidyanathan, Executive Director at CGA Saskatchewan “But compared to the rest of Canada, Saskatchewanians show less concern with their increasing debt even though they report having trouble managing their debt loads.” This poses a problem for Saskatchewan households as they continue to take on more debt by spending on day-to-day living rather than accumulating assets. What is even more alarming though is 80 percent of Saskatchewanians say they would not change their saving patterns in order to build or rebuild a financial cushion to a size they believe is right for them. “The main cause for the debt run-up across Canada is day-to-day living expenses,” says Steve McLellan, CEO of the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce. “But in Saskatchewan we see 38 per cent of residents reporting the purchase of a new vehicle as the second cause. All of this spending prevents Saskatchewanians from reaching their other arguably more important financial goals such as retirement, education and building financial security for unexpected circumstances.” Even with the temporary relief of a credit card or line of credit, one quarter of Saskatchewanians would not be able to handle an unforeseen expense of $5000 and 1 in 10 would face difficulty in dealing with a $500 unforeseen expense. However, the challenge of handling unforeseen expenses did not seem to represent sufficient motivation for savings. “Saskatchewanians, like the rest of Canada, are not saving on a regular basis and have little knowledge about available savings vehicles such as TFSAs,” adds Vaidyanathan. “More than one-third of non-retired Saskatchewanians commit no resources to any type of savings, not even for retirement and this is more pronounced here than in other provinces.”
ABOUT THE CERTIFIED GENERAL ACCOUNTANTS ASSOCIATION OF SASKATCHEWAN The Certified General Accountants Association of Saskatchewan proudly represents approximately 850 members and students. CGA Saskatchewan has been an association since 1978 and is supported by several staff and a Board of Governors. 2008 marked the 100th anniversary of the national CGA Association, with 73,000 members and students in Canada and around the world. ABOUT THE SASKATCHEWAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE The Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce, the “Voice of Business in Saskatchewan”, is an advocacy organization focused on making Saskatchewan the best place to live, work and invest through improved business competitiveness. The Chamber’s membership includes individual business firms, comprising all sizes and types of enterprise across the province, and a number of provincial business and professional associations. View the backgrounder on this report Media Coverage |