{"id":8288,"date":"2026-02-12T23:53:38","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T23:53:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/economics\/?p=8288"},"modified":"2026-03-31T19:34:20","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T19:34:20","slug":"rbc-canadian-cardholder-spending-takes-a-breather-in-january-after-holiday-rush","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/economics\/canadian-analysis\/rbc-consumer-spending-tracker\/rbc-canadian-cardholder-spending-takes-a-breather-in-january-after-holiday-rush\/","title":{"rendered":"RBC Canadian cardholder spending takes a breather in January after holiday rush"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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By Abbey Xu<\/em><\/em> and<\/em> Rachel Battaglia<\/em><\/em> <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

January spending snapshot: <\/strong>RBC Canadian cardholder spending softened in January after a long stretch of gains late last year as consumers pulled back, especially on discretionary goods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Core retail sales fell 0.3% on three-month average\u2014marking the first decline after 13 months of growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several temporary factors likely weighed on spending at the start of the year. Severe winter weather, including snowstorms and periods of extreme cold, likely disrupted in-person activity in parts of the country. At the same time, post-holiday fatigue appears to have set in with households holding back after heavier spending in November and December.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The broader trends remain constructive, but January\u2019s softness suggests some loss of momentum as households moved past the holiday spending period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Discretionary goods see sharpest pullback after strong December<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Discretionary goods recorded the largest decline in January across broad spending categories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

December had been an especially strong for goods tied to holiday shopping, and January largely retraced some of those earlier gains. The reversal points to a normalization following elevated year-end spending rather than a sudden deterioration in household demand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Essentials spending also declined in January, extending softer tone already evident from late 2025. By contrast, discretionary services spending edged lower, but remained the most resilient of the three major groupings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Services were not immune to the slowdown, but the pullback was noticeably milder than in discretionary goods or essentials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Temporary disruptions likely contributed to lower spending but decline is broad based<\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Severe winter weather, including large storms late in the month, likely disrupted spending across parts of Canada. In Ontario, for example, card spending fell sharply on peak storm days before rebounding shortly afterward. This pattern suggests weather effects distorted the timing of spending rather than fully explaining January\u2019s weakness on a net basis, as softer activity remained relatively broad based across categories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Housing-related categories, including construction services, posted notable declines, broadly consistent with softer housing resales<\/a> reported in January.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several categories tied to everyday and discretionary spending posted larger declines. Grocery spending softened meaningfully, while entertainment and arts spending also cooled at the national level following strong late year performances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Travel was a notable exception. Growth slowed from December\u2019s pace, but spending didn\u2019t slip into negative territory on a three-month average, suggesting demand remained relatively steady in early 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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