Canadians have been hit hard by the ongoing cost-of-living crisis and the situation is getting worse: many are now being forced to draw on savings to make ends meet.
A report published on April 6 by non-profit Angus Reid Institute paints a rather bleak picture. Compared to the previous year, more Canadians (two-thirds) say that they’ve been cutting back on nonessentials in the past few months.
However, for many, cutting costs simply hasn’t enough to keep up with the rising food prices and inflation.
Vergani Fotografia/Shutterstock
As a result, two out of five Canadians “have progressed from belt-tightening on spending to drawing on existing savings.”
“Two-in-five (40%) say recent challenges have forced them to draw money from accounts that they try not to touch, and one-in-three (35%) say they deferred a contribution to their RRSP or TFSA,” reads the report.
But what happens when even that’s not enough?
In all, 13% of those who took part in the survey say that they’ve had to resort to borrowing from family and friends, 11% have had to sell their assets, and 8% have applied for a bank loan.
“Little wonder then, that fully one-in-three (34%) Canadians say they’re in either ‘bad’ or ‘terrible’ shape financially. This represents a six-point increase from last July,” reads the report.
Angus Reid Institute
For Canadians who say they’re “barely getting by”, the results vary by province: 11% in BC, 16% in Alberta, 13% in Saskatchewan, 9% in Manitoba, 8% in Ontario, 6% in Quebec, and the highest was 20% in Atlantic Canada — twice the national average of 10%.
And it’s not even just younger people who have it rough.
“Two-in-five (40%) 45- to 54-year-olds report being in bad or worse shape financially, alongside more than one-third (35%) of those aged 55 to 64,” states the report. “Perhaps that’s why many Canadians in that age range are delaying retirement.”
And many don’t see their situation improving anytime soon.
Another Angus Reid survey shows that 31% of Canadians believe that their finances will further deteriorate in the coming year.
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