Canadians are split when asked if they have confidence in Justin Trudeau to do the right thing to help the economy.
Vancouver, BC [January 28, 2022] – Many Canadians appear dissatisfied with the current state of the nation’s finances, a new Research Co. poll has found.
In the online survey of a representative national sample, 54% of Canadians rate the economic conditions in Canada today as “bad” or “very bad”, while 41% consider them “very good” or “good.”
Economic confidence is particularly low in Saskatchewan and Manitoba (26%) and Alberta (33%). At least two-in-five residents of British Columbia (40%), Ontario (43%), Atlantic Canada (also 43%) and Quebec (48%) think the economic conditions in Canada today are “very good” or “good.”
Only one-in-five Canadians (20%) expect the Canadian economy to improve over the next six months, while 30% foresee a decline and 41% believe it will remain the same.
Almost three-in-five Canadians (58%) say their own personal finances today are “very good” or “good”, while almost two-in-five (38%) state that they are “bad” or “very bad.”
Compared to a survey conducted by Research Co. in April 2020, Canadians are not as concerned about possible financial setbacks.
More than two-in-five Canadians acknowledge worrying “frequently” or “occasionally” about two issues in the past couple of months: the safety of their savings (44%, -8) and the value of their investments (41%, -9).
Fewer Canadians are concerned about unemployment affecting their household (31%, -15), being able to pay their mortgage or rent (31%, -10) or their employer running into serious financial trouble (26%, -11).
More than four-in-five Canadians expect the price of a week’s worth of groceries (83%) and gasoline (82%) to go up in the next six months. At least three-in-five Canadians also foresee rising costs for real estate (72%), a new car (71%) and a new television set (62%).
While 47% of Canadians trust Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to do the right thing to help the economy, 48% express no confidence in his leadership.
More than a third of Canadians (37%) trust Governor of the Bank of Canada Tiff Macklem to make the right decisions, while only 29% feel the same way about Federal Leader of the Opposition Erin O’Toole.
“Canadians are not particularly thrilled with the current economic conditions and are not expecting a quick fix to address inflation,” says Mario Canseco, President of Research Co. “However, they are less likely to express grave concerns about meeting existing financial commitments or losing their job than in the early stages of the pandemic.”
Methodology: Results are based on an online study conducted from January 21 to January 23, 2022, among 1,000 adults in Canada. The data has been statistically weighted according to Canadian census figures for age, gender and region. The margin of error – which measures sample variability – is +/- 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
Find our data tables here and download the press release here.
For more information on this poll, please contact:
Mario Canseco, President, Research Co.
778.929.0490 [e] mario.canseco@researchco.ca