The Survey of Household Spending provides detailed information on household expenditures, dwelling characteristics, and ownership of household equipment.
Beginning with the 2006 reference year, data are collected during a personal interview using a computer assisted personal interview (CAPI) questionnaire on the laptop between January 1 and April 21, 2007. Information was gathered about the spending habits, dwelling characteristics and household equipment of Canadian households during
2006. The survey covered private households in the 10 provinces and in the three northern territories. (In order to reduce response burden for northern households, the SHS is conducted in the north only every second year, starting with 1999.) The Survey of Household Spending (first conducted for the 1997 reference year) includes most of the content from the former Family Expenditure Survey and the Household Facilities and Equipment Survey. Detailed information was collected about expenditures for consumer goods and services, changes in assets, mortgages and other loans, and annual income. This information was collected for the calendar year 2006 (the survey reference year). Information was also collected about dwelling characteristics (e.g., type and age of heating equipment) and household equipment (e.g., appliances, communications equipment, and vehicles). This type of information was collected as of December 31st of the reference year.