Parents hunt for deals as inflation expected to impact school supply prices

A recent survey from the Retail Council of Canada says many parents expect to pay more for school supplies this year.

As a result, some parents said they went out early in the summer hoping to find deals, while also relying on hand-me-downs.

"Especially with COVID being over, we have gym class again where they need to change runners, so I have three sets of runners I now need to buy," said Michelle Anderson, who has kids going into grades two, four and six.

She said she has already noticed the price of food to feed her kids has gone up, but now she is feeling the pinch on school supplies.

"I need two binders and I'm spending $40 on two binders. Wow!"

The survey said a third of respondents expect to spend more on school supplies than last year. Statistics Canada lists recreation, education and reading costs as one of the nine categories of items which contribute to high inflation rate.

"I'm always worried about money, and whatever the inflation number is, I'm that percentage more worried about money, and children are expensive," said one parent who talked with CTV News Winnipeg.

It's not just parents who are paying more - so are retailers.

"We've noticed almost every supplier has had minimal increases to, you know, quite substantial ones in some cases," said Janeen Junson, the owner of Artists Emporium.

Artists Emporium sells art supplies to schools, parents and students. In anticipation of cost hikes, the company bought a lot of items in bulk from last year's stock at last year's cheaper prices.

"We have (these sketch books) on sale for $9.99. Once that is gone from last year, the new shipment has come in and they’re $11.99. They're still on sale, but they're $11.99."

Meanwhile, Anderson is hoping to rely on hand-me-downs to save money, but she knows there's always something growing in the house, whether it be inflation or not.

"They aren't stopping growing, and we're getting close in size as well with the older two," said Anderson.

The Retail Council of Canada found that clothing was the number one item for back to school spending.