82 percent believe that the country is already in a recession
A new survey has found that most Canadians are pessimistic about the Canadian economy in 2024, as reported in an article by CTV News.
According to the online survey conducted by Pollara Strategic Insights, more than half (52 percent) of respondents believed that the economy would worsen in 2024, while nearly a quarter (24 percent) expected that it won’t change. Meanwhile, only 15 percent were optimistic about seeing an improvement in the economy this year.
Quebec had the highest recorded numbers of Canadians pessimistic about the economy, while Ontario had the lowest. Moreover, 82 percent of the total respondents believed that Canada was already in a recession. This was the third-highest total seen since polling on this question began in 2001, said Pollara.
There was a notable downward trend of people worrying about potentially losing their jobs, as only 19 percent said they or a family member may lose their jobs in the next 12 months, compared to the 35 percent in 2021. This fear was most common in people with blue collar jobs as 34 percent admitted to worrying about this.
Additionally, almost half (46 percent) of the respondents expected that they will be falling behind financially this year, while over a third (38 percent) said they will be able to keep up with the economic demands.
Financial stressors for Canadians
The top financial concern for Canadians continued to be grocery prices, as 44 percent identified food costs as a major source of stress. This was followed by housing expenses, gas prices, and heating bills. Following the drop in gas prices after it peaked in June 2022, the stress about the cost of gas has also noticeably gone down.
Respondents in Atlantic Canada were more likely to be concerned about home heating bills, as 37 percent of survey participants in this region admitted to it being a major source of stress. This comes as nearly a third of households in Atlantic Canada relied on home heating oil, which was more expensive than other home heating system types.
Nearly half 45 percent of respondents aged 18 to 34 admitted to housing expenses as a major source of stress, while only 19 percent of participants aged 65 and above said that same thing.
Meanwhile, homeowners and renters who were still paying mortgages said they felt “worried” and “upset” about their personal financial situation. In contrast, respondents who were homeowners that have already paid of their mortgages said they were “confident” and “calm” about it.
The online survey was conducted by Pollara with a randomly selected sample of 1,503 adult Canadians.
