Beginning The Bushwhack: Finding Toronto Market Stats For Your Business Plan
If you are working on a business plan for an enterprise in Toronto, how can you find your way through the jungle of stats out there to find out how Canadians, and Torontonians in particular, spend their money?
Spending Patterns In Canada 2008 will give you a good, basic start. This Statistics Canada publication looks at amounts spent on shelter, transportation, household operation, and tobacco products and alcoholic beverages in Canada and selected metropolitan areas.
One of the tables in the publication is the Average Spending Per Household for Selected Cities. It tells us, for example, that the average household in Toronto in 2008 spent:
- $18,901 on shelter
- $3,832 on clothing
- $2,125 on health care
- $272 on reading materials and other printed matter
And you can dig even deeper. A look at Household Equipment at the Time of Interview, Canada and Selected Metropolitan Areas will reveal that, in 2008:
- 80.8% of Torontonians had a cell phone
- 76.8% had cable
- 83.6% had a home computer
- 80.3% had Internet use from home
The table also has statistics on the number of CD players per household, as well as DVD players, satellite dishes, colour TVs, microwave ovens, air conditioners, refrigerators, freezers, cars, and more.
When looking at reports of this kind, knowing Statistics Canada's definition of terms such as "household" is essential to understanding the information. You can find this and other important definitions at the Standard Statistical Units section of the Statistics Canada website.
So put away your machete, put the kettle on, and have a look at the tables!
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