VANCOUVER--Despite high housing costs across the country, the average Canadian family spent more on taxes in 2016 than housing, food and clothing combined, finds a new study released today by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank.
"Many Canadians may think housing is their biggest household expense, but in fact the average Canadian family spent more on taxes last year than on life's basic necessities--including housing," said Charles Lammam, director of fiscal studies at the Fraser Institute and co-author of the Canadian Consumer Tax Index, which tracks the total tax bill of the average Canadian family from 1961 to 2016.
