More than half of Albertans struggling with daily expenses

Goodbye, Alberta advantage. Half of the province's residents say they are struggling to keep up with daily expenses amid a cost-of-living crisis.

Goodbye, Alberta advantage. Half of the province's residents say they are struggling to keep up with daily expenses amid a cost-of-living crisis.

According to a recent Statistics Canada survey, 51 per cent of Albertans say rising costs are greatly affecting their ability to meet day-to-day expenses, more than in any other province and six points higher than the national average.

Alicia Planincic, an economist with the Business Council of Alberta, said if you break the inflation data down, there isn’t a huge difference province-to-province on food and bigger budget items.

But when it comes to housing, costs in Alberta have soared.

“The thing that is unique to Alberta is really the housing costs. And if you drill down a little bit further, it's really rent in particular,” Planincic said.

The average rent in Alberta has grown 15 per cent in the last year to $1,810, according to the August rent report by rentals.ca and Urbanation.

“I do think that very clearly where Albertans are feeling this inflation challenge the most is in housing,” she said.