How debt creeps up on middle-income Canadians
Dakshana Bascaramurty
Globe and Mail
Oct. 04, 2010

…. A survey conducted by Today’s Parent magazine earlier this year found that parents paid an average of $627 a month across Canada for child care, with those in Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario spending more than $750.

To keep up her lifestyle, she charged diapers to her credit card, along with clothing and more groceries than she and her daughter needed. She eventually found herself in a monthly dance when the bills came: She’d transfer the balance from one credit card to another, then open lines of credit to pay bills.

Sudhir Bhalla, owner of GN Financial Group, a Toronto-based financial planning firm, says his middle-class clients find that “child-care costs are ones they feel helpless to control.”….