Despite falling inflation, declining interest
rates and continued (albeit weak) growth, Canadians remain gloomy about the
economy.
Last week, marketing and research firm Leger released
an update to the 2024 Economic Confidence Survey it published in January. It suggests 63% of Canadians feel the economy
is poor or very poor.
A key reason for the sombre attitude is
housing affordability. It was cited as a
top concern by 46% of respondents, replacing inflation as the Number-One
worry. Inflation dropped to second spot,
being chosen by 42% of those surveyed.
Higher housing costs have people changing
their spending and saving habits. More
than half of Canadians (51%) have been hit by mortgage or rent increases in the
past two years. Nearly two-thirds of
those people are spending less while about one-third are saving less. A quarter of them have been making
withdrawals from their savings.
Canadians are somewhat more confident about
their own, household finances. Nearly
60% say they consider their household finances to be good or very good, and 17%
expect them to get better.
Significantly, 37% feel their household finances are poor or very poor
with 22% expecting them to get worse.
In the updated survey fewer people indicated
they expect to cut their discretionary spending over the next six months. The number fell five percentage points to 27%
in July, compared to January.