Canadians Have Never Felt This Worse About Their Finances
NORTH AMERICA — Despite its size, the ninth-largest economy in the world, Canada has seemingly been in the shadows of economic turmoil worldwide. Perhaps this is primarily caused by its two superpower neighbors whom it shares borders with, the US and Russian Federation, who, with similar and varying reasons, have occupied headlines time and time again.
For the US, the US Federal Reserve’s consequential decision to implement a never been seen tightening monetary policy has caused a massive global shockwave. Meanwhile, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine aggravates this international shockwave, especially regarding energy prices and global food security.
Hence, Canada and, for that matter, Canadians have expressed their worries about the deteriorating economic conditions that ultimately affect their day-to-day lives. As shown in the most recent poll, Canadians have statistically never felt this worse about their financial well-being until now. Yet, alarmingly, it seems that the worse is yet to come.
Poll Shows Canadians’ Economic Distress
For reference, Bloomberg partners with Nanos Research (the survey supervisor) to poll roughly 250 Canadians weekly from varying demographics and backgrounds to grasp the overall public sentiment on job security, their finances, real estate prices around their areas, and of course, their view on Canada’s economic environment.
As shown in the polling graph done by Nanos Research for Bloomberg News, a notable increase of respondents declaring their financial well-being have decreased compared to last year’s has shot up. On the same note, the majority of respondents expressed their worries about their personal finances as they cope with rising prices for seemingly everything and, at the same time, falling real estate prices.
In total, almost half (47 percent) of respondents stated their finances have “worsened” compared to the previous year, the highest rating since 2008. Hence, this result surpassed the heights of the COVID-19 pandemic and eerily, the global financial crisis as well. On the other hand, only 13 percent of those surveyed confidently expressed that their finances have “improved” over the previous year.
Supplementing Data Shows a Parallel Story
Furthermore, additional data from the same polling authority show noteworthy results supporting the overall economic hypothesis. First of all, as a measure of public sentiment, the Bloomberg Nanos Canadian Confidence Index fell for a ninth consecutive week to 42.1, the lowest on record beyond the previous two economic crises.
Secondly, in terms of future viewpoint, Canadians have reported being “extremely” pessimistic about Canada’s economy, with 64 percent stating they anticipate the economy to decline further over the subsequent six months, while only 9 percent are optimistic regarding seeing an improvement in the same timeframe.
Thirdly, real estate sentiment has continued to slide for seven months now (since the start of interest rate hikes in March). In total, 40 percent of Canadians expect home prices to continue declining over the next six months. Last but not least, Job security stays at roughly historic averages, with 13 percent of respondents stating they are at the very least moderately concerned about losing their livelihood.
