Financial Confidence Among Canadians at All-Time Low: Survey

A Canadian dollar coin is pictured in this illustration picture taken in Toronto, Jan. 23, 2015. Mark Blinch/Reuters

Canadians’ confidence in their personal finances has hit a record low, newly released research suggests.

Confidence levels are now lower than they were during the 2008 financial crisis, according to a report from Nanos Research. More than 50 percent of Canadians surveyed by Nanos said their personal finances were worse off during the first week of May than they were last year, while 37 percent experienced no change in their financial fortunes.

“Only 10 percent of Canadians report their finances are better compared to a year ago—the lowest reported score on record,” Nanos Research chief data scientist Nik Nanos said in the report, noting that the score fell five percentage points from a month ago.

Canadians also had little faith in the economy with the majority saying it would worsen or stay the same.

Forty-five percent of Canadians surveyed said they believed the economy would weaken this year, while just shy of 33 percent thought it would remain the same. Only 14 percent of Canadians said the economy was likely to strengthen in 2024.

The Nanos Pocketbook Index, which tracks public perception of personal finances and job security, also dropped during the first week of May. Sitting at 50, it matched the low hit during the height of the pandemic in April 2020, when Canada’s gross domestic product fell by 10.7 per cent.

That perception was especially low among the youngest respondents, with the index falling to 40 among those aged 18 to 29, the lowest recorded in the 16-year history of the index.

According to Bloomberg, which teamed up with Nanos for the poll, the youth index “has been in free-fall since the last week of March,” dropping 17 points in five weeks.

Housing

Canadians also have a pessimistic view of housing prices with more than 50 percent of respondents saying they believed real estate prices would increase in their neighbourhoods while 35.6 percent said it would likely stay the same. Only 9 percent thought prices would come down.

The cost of housing across Canada hit a 30-year high last month, escalating the affordability crisis across the country. An RBC report found that the average Canadian household needed to spend 63.5 percent of its income in the fourth quarter of 2023 to cover the costs of owning a typical market-price home.

That cost was considerably higher in large urban areas such as Vancouver, Victoria, and Toronto where the average household would need to spend between 80 percent and 106 percent of their income on a home.

Employment

Despite the largely negative sentiments in most areas surrounding personal finances, 46 percent of Canadians said they felt secure in their job while 14.8 percent said they felt somewhat secure. A total of 4.8 percent of Canadians said they felt somewhat insecure while 9.5 percent said they did not feel secure at all in their employment.

Employment across Canada increased by 90,000 or 0.4 percent in April, staying at 61.4 percent after about six months of decline, according to Statistics Canada. The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 6.1 percent.

Employment gains were made by men and women aged 25 to 54, accounting for 41,000 or 0.6 percent increase among men and 27,000 or 0.4 percent for women. Younger people, aged 15 to 24, also saw employment numbers rise to 39,000 or 2.8 percent.