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OTTAWA — Parents sending their kids off to their final year of high school are paying nearly 25% more than they did when their kids first entered school.
That's according to data released last month by Statistics Canada, showing everything from pens and pencils to packing a daily lunch costs far more now than it did 12 years ago — offsetting drops in prices for clothing and footwear.
'Surprising as it may seem, parents of Grade 12 students will pay about the same — or perhaps even less — for clothing and athletic footwear this summer than they did when their child was in Grade 1,' read the report, released late last month.
'Among back-to-school items, prices for children's clothing (-8.5%) and footwear (-6.9%) have fallen at the fastest pace from June 2015 to June 2026. It should be noted that most students 'graduate' from children to adult clothing and footwear somewhere between Grades 7 and 9.'
Savings from these drops, however, are completely eroded by increases in supplies and food.
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Studying pricing trends between 2015 and 2026 showed school textbooks and other supplies showed prices of those items increased 24% since 2015.
Books and reading material, excluding textbooks, increased by 25.7% over the same time period.
Read More No savings found in your lunchbox, either
The biggest back-to-school financial hit, however, is found in packing your kids' lunch box.
Key sandwich ingredients increased by nearly 33% between 2015 and 2026 — cheese saw varied increases, from 9.8% in the price of cheddar to 43% for fresh or unripened cheese.
Prices for ham and other processed meats, essential for any mid-school day meal, rose faster than cheese.
Ham and bacon prices increased by 47% since June 2015, while other processed lunch meats like bologna saw a 43% increase.
Despite paying more for bacon, packing that noon-hour BLT may leave a bad taste in your mouth.
'The biggest price change in making a sandwich for a school lunch box was the vegetable fillings, with tomato prices up 95.4% and lettuce prices up 75.2% from June 2015 to June 2026,' the report read.
bpassifiume@postmedia.com
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