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Ontario consumers feeling more secure 

Canada News Wire

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The December RBC Canadian Consumer Outlook report finds that Ontario residents are among the most likely to shop for post-holiday deals in January, with 46 percent planning to hit the stores compared to 42 percent nationally. This is second only to Atlantic Canada, where 52 percent of residents are planning to do some post-holiday shopping. As for financing their holiday shopping, nearly three-in-four Ontarians (74 percent) say they will pay for the holidays with money on hand, which is among the highest levels in the country (the national average is 75 percent).

"Ontarians are feeling more secure about their jobs and more optimistic about their future personal finances, which should bode well for consumer confidence in 2010," said Jennifer Tory, regional president, Greater Toronto Region, RBC. "At RBC, we continue to advise our clients to build a solid financial plan that will help them achieve important goals like reducing debt or purchasing a home or saving for their kids' university tuition."

The report also measures Canadians' perception of current conditions compared to three months ago, as well as short term (three month) prospects for their personal finances, job anxiety and a number of other factors. Provincial highlights: Job anxiety in Ontario has fallen significantly to 21 percent (equal to the national average) in December, down from 29 percent in November. Four-in-10 Ontarians (43 percent) think that their personal financial situation is worse than it was three months ago, which is the highest level in the country and well above the national average (38 percent). Like many Canadians, Ontarians are more optimistic about the longer term, with more than four-in-ten (42 percent) expecting their personal economic situation to improve over the next year versus 38 percent in November.

"While the beginning of 2010 may still present some challenges for Ontario's economy, we expect the province to experience growth of 2.4 percent in 2010 before accelerating to 4.0 per cent growth in 2011," said Craig Wright, senior vice-president and chief economist, RBC.