Why B.C. residents are spending less in 2026 as consumer confidence wanes
If you’ve been trying to cut back on spending this year, new data on B.C.’s consumer spending shows that you’re not alone.
B.C.’s consumer spending data fell by nearly one per cent in the first quarter of 2026, according to transaction data from Moneris, a commerce provider that accounts for a third of spending transactions in Canada.
They looked at transaction data from January to March 2026 and compared it to the same timeframe last year, and found that B.C.’s year-over-year domestic spend fell 0.86 per cent.
Sean McCormick, vice president of business development at Moneris Data Services, said that if we account for two per cent inflation — which means that everything costs about two per cent more — this is closer to a three per cent decline in spending.
“A thriving economy does not see consumers spending three per cent less on the same things that they bought a year ago,” he said. “And even unadjusted for inflation, a healthy, thriving economy doesn’t see consumers spending one per cent less on things that they bought a year ago. And that’s what we’re seeing in B.C.”
Across Canada, consumer spending is down 0.27 per cent. The province with the biggest drop in spending was Manitoba, which declined by 2.14 per cent.
“[In] a healthy, thriving economy, we should see at least two per cent growth … And we’re just not seeing that in the first quarter of 2026 versus first quarter 2025,” said McCormick.
He said there’s no single reason for the dip in spending, but attributed some of it to poor consumer sentiment.
“We are influenced every day by the things we see and hear around us. That could be online, on social media, legacy media, friends, neighbours, family. It could be how we feel when we go to the grocery store, and we see red meat that costs 50 per cent more than the last time we bought red meat. These are the kinds of things that influence how we spend overall.”
Canadian consumer confidence is currently low. In March, Moneris conducted a survey with Angus Reid, and found that 49 per cent of Canadians believe the Canadian economy is struggling — up from 34 per cent in June 2025.
“Of course, Canadians are going to be spending less at the till if that’s where their heads are at,” said McCormick.
The survey also found that just 13 per cent of respondents think the economy will improve in the next six months, and 43 per cent reported that they expect their non-essential spending to drop.
“What we’re seeing every day is that more and more people are having to make tough decisions on how they’re spending their money,” said McCormick.
In B.C., transaction size is up by 0.41 per cent, which is the size of a transaction seen at a terminal when people tap their card.
While B.C.’s average size of transaction has increased slightly, the spending is overall going down — meaning that “people just aren’t buying as often,” McCormick explained.
Apparel spending down, grocery spending up
Nationwide, apparel spending declined by two per cent, which McCormick said is indicative of consumers not having a lot of disposable income.
“If you’re looking for an easy place in the springtime to save a couple bucks, maybe you get another season out of your favourite pair of shoes.”
Consumer spending on groceries went up by three per cent, less than the 5.4 per cent food inflation reported by Statistics Canada.
McCormick said consumers have been adapting to the “eye-watering grocery inflation,” and that since 2020, the average transaction size at grocery stores has only grown slightly in the last 18 months.
“They’ve been substituting the luxury brands, or the more expensive brands, for the cheaper and discount brands,” he said. “So they’ve been able to maintain, basically, for all intents and purposes, the same transaction size when they check out. They’re just filling their basket with lower-priced goods, and in other cases, fewer goods.”
For example, if someone bought 10 oranges and the last few would go bad, they might now choose to buy seven.