Dating website founder says more Canadian students looking for sugar daddies
By The Canadian Press - Wednesday, January 23, 2013 - 0 Comments
SASKATOON – The founder of a dating website that connects men and women looking…
SASKATOON – The founder of a dating website that connects men and women looking for “mutually beneficial relationships” says more and more Canadian university students are looking for what he calls “a sugar daddy.”
Brandon Wade of seekingarrangement.com defines a sugar daddy as a man who has the financial means to “spoil and pamper” a female.
His American-based website also represents several sugar mommies offering money or gifts “in return for friendship and companionship.”
When the service launched in 2006, roughly 30 per cent of his clients were university students clients looking for someone to pay their tuition and living costs.
Wade says that number is now at 50 per cent.
He says the University of Saskatchewan placed 11th on his list of top sugar baby universities in Canada with 63 new sign ups in 2012, while Ryerson University in Toronto was No. 1 with 183 memberships.
“Tuition rates have gone up … much faster than the rate of inflation or the cost of living adjustments,” said Wade.
He added that the allure of finding a wealthy and successful partner is magnified by reality TV.
“You see programs like the `Millionaire Matchmaker’ or `The Bachelor’ or the `Housewives of Orange County.’ ”
He said some of his sugar daddies are multi-billionaires while others make less than six figures.
He said on average, the amount of money a student receives from their sugar daddy is $3,000 per month.
“The money could go to college tuition, it could go to paying rent or it could just be used for travelling or buying gifts and shopping,” said Wade.
Each relationship is different. Some end after university is done, while others result in marriage, said Wade.
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Couples therapy in robes and slippers
By Rebecca Eckler - Thursday, May 19, 2011 at 11:55 AM - 0 Comments
Spa Date was conceived as a more ‘positive’ way to look at a relationship
Getty Images/Photo Illustration by Taylor Shute
“The Spa Date is not therapy,” insists clinical therapist Ashley Howe. “It’s meant to revitalize and celebrate all that is wonderful about you and your relationship. Spas are all about mind, body and spirit. This focuses on the mind.” Well, you can dress it up however you want—in this case, in robes and slippers in a spa room—but it’s still two people talking about their relationship in front of a professional.
Howe, who has a master’s degree in couples and family therapy, founded Spa Date last year. “I don’t believe that traditional couples therapy works,” she says. “Couples will show up and just end up hammering out their issues in a last-ditch effort or because one party feels guilty and figures they should at least try to save their relationship with counselling.” After years of working with couples on the brink, Howe realized, “This sucks.” And, also, that traditional couples counselling was “not helping to encourage the relationship.” She thought couples needed a more “positive way to look at their relationship.”
It can’t hurt that couples going to see her (or one of her trained professionals) on a Spa Date are offered a glass of champagne and a cheese plate. Still, I’ll admit I was skeptical. Wouldn’t men feel less comfortable talking about their relationship in a robe in front of a stranger? Most importantly, I wondered, “Does she not know I’m naked under here?”
