This is one of those stats that gets everyone arguing. Is this a good thing (i.e. a low cost of living) or a bad thing (low income leads to low expenditures)? I guess it depends on who you are talking to. As a general rule, however; this is not a cost of living metric. For example, a person making $75,000/year in New Brunswick might have the same avg. household expenditure pattern as a person in Ontario (although it is unlikely their housing costs would be as high as in the large urban centres).
Anyway, for me, this one is like Fox News. I report – you decide.
It is a little interesting that we are last in Canada among the provinces for recreation, clothing, and tobaccco/booze (no kidding!). The only two categories where we are higher than the median province are health care and transportation expenses. And for those of you with a slightly higher dense quotient I’ll spell this out: that means the average NB household spends $1,610 on private health care per year.
I report, you decide.
Average Household Expenditures (2004)
Source:
http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/051212/d051212a.htm