Canadians may enjoy cross-border shopping but some experts say we're not as dedicated to bargain hunting as Americans, a trait that contributes to higher prices at home despite the high-flying loonie.
With the dollar holding at more than the U.S. greenback, bargains abound for Canucks who head south this Easter long weekend.
Apple's just-released iPad 2 goes for US$499 in the States, down from C$519 in Canada. A silk border print dress at Banana Republic sells for US$110 in the U.S. versus C$134 here.
Taxes, market size, contractual obligations and other factors all contribute to the price gap, but some say Canadians are simply unwilling to spend as much time rooting through bargain bins as Americans.
That's why cars are cheaper in the U.S. even though the Canadian dollar is worth more, according to Brian Osler, president of the North American Automobile Trade Association.
"Canadians are willing to pay more for cars so manufacturers charge more," Osler said Sunday on CTV News Channel. Differences in car prices vary widely but in some cases can be more than $10,000.
"A car rolls off the assembly line in Oakville and a consumer in Oakville pays more for it than someone in Texas," said Osler, noting that the discrepancy is "a thorn in the side of quite a lot of people."
David Soberman, a marketing professor at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management, said Canadians may get angry about paying more than U.S. shoppers, but anger only gets you so far if you don't change your shopping habits.
"Shopping seems to be a very big part of what goes on in the U.S. People go down to Florida, to Georgia to the southern U.S. and one of the activities that you do there are tours going to outlet malls," Soberman said.
"I'm not going to make a value judgment on whether or not that is good or bad or if that is a way to fulfil your life and a good way to spend your time, but if you're wondering why prices are lower it might be part of the explanation."
The loonie, which closed down 0.03 of a cent to 104.16 cents U.S. on Friday, sits about 30 per cent higher than it was two years ago. It has been fortified by a surge in the price of commodities such as oil and base metals.
A report last week by the Bank of Montreal suggested that the jump in the loonie has created a price gap of about 20 per cent for many consumer goods -- with Canadians paying the higher charge.
BMO's survey compared 11 items, including golf balls, Blu-ray movies, running shoes and cars.
But Michael Mulvey, marketing professor at the University of Ottawa's Telfer School of Management, also noted some of the biggest difference in prices between the U.S. and Canada are in the areas where there isn't free trade, such as telecomunications.
Mulvey also said the larger middle class in Canada likely plays a role.
"When you have a larger number of people that are struggling it does put pressures to bring prices down," he said.
Cross-border shopping is itself something of an industry in Canada, where bus lines take shoppers on excursions to U.S. shopping centers. But business is "down, really down," according to one Toronto-area bus line, because penny-conscious shoppers are these days more likely to carpool.
"Two or three years ago we had buses full of people, you couldn't get on a bus," said a spokeperson for Sandy's Bus Lines, which takes shoppers to nearby Buffalo, NY and other locations. "Now the economy is bad, they're very conservative and they carpool."
But not everything is cheaper in the U.S.
A Playstation 3 at BestBuy lists for $299.99 on both its Canadian and U.S. websites, while Electronic Art's NHL 11 game for the game console can be had for US$59.99 in the U.S., it is on sale in Canada for C$49.99.
And the real estate landscape in Canada is set to become more competitive.
RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust (TSX:REI.UN) has signed a deal with Tanger Outlet Centers that will see up to 15 U.S.-style outlet malls built in Canada by the end of 2012.
And Target, a must-hit destination for many Canadian shoppers headed to the U.S., has acquired 220 Zellers stores in Canada and plans to convert 100 to 150 of them to its own banner by the end of 2013.
With files from Canadian Press
