Spring break has arrived for students and parents in Ontario, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. And for some, a trip south to the United States or some other warmer clime is on deck.
Unfortunately for those fortunate travellers, they’ll have to pack a few more bucks into their budgets.
The reason: rising airfare costs and foreign exchange rates.
Just when it looked the loonie was recovering some ground against the U.S. dollar, a weaker-than-expected jobs report pummeled the Canadian currency on Friday, something that will crimp the purchasing power of Canadians abroad.
At the same time, the country’s largest airliner, Air Canada, signaled that it was lifting air fares and weighing new fees to make up for the shortfall created by the falling dollar.
“The spring break just got costlier for some folks,” Doug Porter, chief economist at Bank of Montreal, said.
The loonie fell to a two-week low Friday, snapping a three-day winning streak, after Statistics Canada said the economy lost 7,000 jobs in February – a dismal reading giving experts were calling for the creation of 15,000 jobs.
READ MORE: February’s ‘disappointing jobs report in one handy graphic
The difference appears small, but could add up for those taking a trip abroad this break.
According to an online survey from CIBC, 12 percent of Canadians say they’re headed out of the country during the one-week hiatus. The average cost per person was a whopping $2,328, the poll said.
AIRFARE COSTS GOING UP, UP…
Last-minute travellers may also have to cope with higher airfare prices from the country’s largest carrier, Air Canada.
“There’s no free lunch unfortunately,” Calin Rovinescu, the head of Air Canada told Bloomberg News. “Unless we can get the U.S. dollar to be more cooperative” airfares are going up and additional fees will be tacked onto prices, he suggested.
In lockstep with the majority of the industry, Air Canada has already added a $35 currency surcharge onto vacation packages to help with higher costs related to the currency swing.
READ MORE: Air Canada, WestJet raise airfare, vacation package prices
Those elevated rates may not hit March break travellers next week, but they may well for students and families in other provinces with later holidays.
Many British Columbia students are off on March 14 and several provinces have breaks that stretch into April.
The CIBC poll also said nearly half of Canadians on break were planning a road trip within Canada, most within their own province.
The creeping costs of travelling abroad may give them all the more reason to stick close to home.
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