More than half of Canadians say they can’t keep up with the current cost of living, according to a poll released Monday by the Angus Reid Institute.
The survey company surveyed 2,279 Canadian adults who are members of the Angus Reid Forum from August 8-10 and found that 56% of them are struggling to keep up as inflation and high interest rates force them to tighten their belts.
Four in five respondents, or 80%, said they had cut back on some spending in the past few months, with 57% saying they had cut back on discretionary spending.
Three-quarters of Canadians say they are stressed about money. While inflation in July fell to 7.6% from a 39-year high of 8.1 in June, indicating that inflation has slowed for the first time in more than a year, food prices have increased by 10% since last year.
If there’s one thing all Canadians agree on, as this poll indicates, it’s the belief that grocery chains are taking advantage of high inflation to raise prices and increase profits – a called “greed”.
Seventy-eight percent of Canadians agreed that it was happening, regardless of demographics, though major grocery chains like Empire and Loblaws denied it, saying they had become more effective.
To help pay for necessities:
- More than 40% of Canadians say they put off a major purchase and drive less.
- Thirty-two percent have canceled or scaled back their travel plans this year, while more than a quarter have opted to cut back on charitable giving as they adjust their budget.
- Nineteen percent said they deferred contributions to their tax-free savings accounts and retirement savings plans.
Canadians were given a scenario where they would receive an unconditional gift of $5,000 — and 10% said they would use it to meet immediate financial obligations, while 38% would use it for long-term needs term; 43% would save money while 9% would make an expensive purchase.
But if the opposite happened – in which they incur a surprise expense of $1,000 or more – half said they would not be able to afford the expense. Thirteen percent say any unforeseen expense would be “too much,” the polling firm said in its report.
The Angus Reid Institute conducted its survey online. For comparison purposes only, a probability sample of this size would have a margin of error of plus or minus two percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
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