SURVEY SAYS: CANADIANS CUTTING BACK SPENDING AMID RISING INTEREST RATES I n a recent survey of 2,003 Canadians by Manulife Bank conducted between May 11 and 14, after the Bank of Canada had raised interest rates three times since last summer, but before the central bank’s latest hike in July to 1.5 per cent, showed that close to two-thirds of Canadians have changed their spending behaviour and are cutting back on spending on both extras and essentials to brace themselves for rising interest rates. 27 percent of respondents say that they have cut back on entertainment such as movies and bars, with 17 percent saying that they have put more money into savings accounts, and 10 percent of respondents say that they are spending less on essential items, such as groceries to cover rising interest costs. 60 percent of respondents to the Manulife Bank survey said they are concerned about rising interest rates, with 23 percent saying that they were spending more on interest payments than they did last year which is a growing concern.
RECREATIONAL POT TO BE SOLD IN ONTARIO RETAIL STORES, BUT PROVINCE WILL HANDLE ONLINE SALES O ntario’s new Progressive Conservative government announced upcoming changes to the Ontario Cannabis Act of 2017 that will allow recreational pot to be sold in retail stores while the province will handle online sales. Minister of Finance Vic Fedeli and Attorney General Caroline Mulroney laid out the government’s plan for a private sector and government hybrid system stressing their priorities would be ensuring public safety and elimi- nating the black market. “The government of Ontario will not be in the business of running physical cannabis stores,” said Fedeli. “Instead we will work with private-sector businesses to build a safe, reliable retail system that will divert sales away from the illegal market.” On October 17th, the province will introduce a system for online sales through the Ontario Cannabis Store (OCS) to meet the federal government’s requirements that provinc- es be ready for retail sales by that date. The government will then launch a consultation process with the aim of introducing a private retail model by Apr. 1 of next year. This new hybrid system scraps the one previous tabled, but the defeated Liberal government that would have seen a provincial monopoly on cannabis sales and the govern- ment operation of 150 brick-and-mortar stores by 2020. Under the new hybrid system plan, the Ontario Cannabis Store will not operate any storefronts, but will act as a wholesale supplier for private retailers creating an official Ontario Cannabis Retail Seal which will help consumers identify stores where federally qualified cannabis products can be found.
“Consumers can look to this seal to confirm they are buying from a legal channel,”said Fedeli.
“This is an assurance that the illegal market simply cannot match.”
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SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • AUGUST 2018
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