Statistics Canada recently released its 2004 Survey of Household Spending. The major expense items are:

Personal taxes – 20%
Shelter – 19%
Transportation – 13.5%
Food – 11%
Recreation – 5.7%
Insurance and RRSPs – 5.7%
Household operation – 4.6%
Clothing – 4%

Average household expenses have increased at a fairly brisk pace in recent years: 4.5% in 2002, 1.8% in 2003 and 4.0% in 2004 (NB: The growth in CPI over the same period was 3.9%, 2.0% and 2.1% respectively). With sky-high energy prices, we can expect another fairly significant increase in 2005.

You can also read about last year’s survey here.