A brief filler piece on the Canadian Press newswire explains only part of the reason so many Canadian shoppers are headed south to do their Christmas shopping this year:
This is Black Friday in the U.S., but many Canadian retailers are a furious red at the thought of consumers heading south for bargains.
The Retail Council of Canada says there is a long list of reasons to shop north of the border.
It says retailers are a vital part of any community’s economy and it employs 10 per cent of the workforce.
It also reminds consumers that Canadian taxes — which cause much of the traffic south — help pay for health care and education.
The higher taxes are certainly a big part of the explanation, but even if you control for tax, Canadian prices are generally higher than their US counterparts. For example, a paperback I picked up at random from our coffee table (published quite recently) has a price of $7.99 on it. If you’re an American, that is. Canadians pay $10.99. The Canadian dollar is around US$0.98.
Nice little markup, eh? Add the 13% Hack-and-Slash Tax on top of that, and you know exactly why thousands of Canadians are willing to put up with long lines at the border to do their shopping in the States.
