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Think before you click your mouse to buy something online. Shopping locally has more impact on your life than you might think.
Consumer dollars can have a big impact locally, and have positive side benefits. Small businesses create jobs, reinvest in the community and help keep decision-making power local. All of this contributes to the vitality of healthy and prosperous neighbourhoods.
Technology has completely transformed our shopping habits. It is now possible to buy everything we need with the simple click of a mouse. The value of online purchases by Canadians reached $18.9 billion in 2012, an increase of 24% compared with 2010, according to Statistics Canada.
However, our choices as consumers have a major impact on our daily lives.