Costco’s card-carrying Canadians will have to pay a little more for their membership this fall, as the bulk buy retail chain announced increased fees.
Membership fees in Canada and the U.S. will be marked up by five dollars effective Sept.1, going from $60 a year to $65.
The last annual fee was increased in 2017.
The increase will affect all individual, business or business add-on memberships and those with executive memberships will be charged an additional $10, bringing their total annual membership fee to $130
Executive members will also see their maximum annual rewards increased.
The increased fees will affect some 52 million memberships, just over half of which are executive memberships.
Costco memberships offer a variety of incentives for customers, including discounts on food, gas, home insurance, travel and groceries.
The company’s stock increased by 34% this year, and shares went up 2.2% in after-hours trading on Wednesday following the announcement.
Revenue from membership fees accounted for 1.9% of the company’s total profit for the 2023 fiscal year.
According to Costco executives, the increase was only a matter of time, as the company tends to increase fees every five years, saying that renewal rates have remained strong.
The news may not go over well with some Canadains, however, as a recent poll found that over two-thirds believe that food costs are continuing to increase and over a quarter of respondents blame the grocery chains themselves.
A Leger report from May found that 64% of respondents felt grocery prices were still rising and 29% laid the blame with grocery stores.
Another 20% of Canadians blamed the federal government and 26% felt the rising costs were due to global economic phenomena such as supply chain issues.