Canadians have highest negative view on the economy since June: poll

Canadians currently have the highest negative view on the economy since tracking first began by Maru Public Opinion.

The survey found 70 per cent of Canadians, up five per cent over last month, believe the state of the economy is on the wrong track.

Tracking first began on the Canadian Maru Household Outlook Index in Feb. 2021 and this month’s results mark the “bleakest outlook for the economy.”

A majority, 67 per cent, of those polled believe the economy where they live will not improve over the next 60 days, the highest since tracking on this sentiment began in July 2020.

Over half of Canadians, 53 per cent, also say they are likely to be worried about their personal or family day-to-day finances while 38 per cent indicate they will not have more than two months of savings to cover any unexpected costs.

The same amount of people, 37 per cent, say they likely will struggle to make ends meet.

Women, those with lower income, and those younger and middle-aged Canadians were mostly likely to be feeling the bite of high inflation and increasing interest rates.

The Bank of Canada raised its key interest rate by half of a percentage point to 3.75 per cent last Wednesday, making it one of the fastest monetary policy tightening cycles in its history.

In September, the annual inflation rate in Canada cooled slightly to 6.9 per cent but the cost of groceries continued to climb. Grocery prices rose at the fastest rate since August 1981, with prices up 11.4 per cent compared with a year ago.

This survey was conducted between Oct. 31 to Nov. 1, 2022, among a random selection of 1,512 Canadian adults who are Maru voice Canada panelists. The probability sample of this size has an estimated margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 per cent, 19 times out of 20.