Majority of Canadians believe state of economy on the wrong track: poll

Two-thirds of Canadians say the state of the economy in the country is on the wrong track, according to a new survey.

The Maru Public Opinion said this negative sentiment about the Canadian economy has been held since July 2022, which means it’s the longest sustained period of pessimism since tracking of it began in February of 2021.

According to the poll, the same amount of people, 65 per cent, believe the economy is not likely to improve over the next 60 days.

Around 35 per cent of those polled believe that the economy is moving in the right direction and will improve over the next 60 days.

Related: Quarter of Canadians believe the country is already in a recession: poll

Of those surveyed, a majority said they will likely be worried about their day-to-day finances over the next 60 days, although 51 per cent said they will likely put away money for their retirement, up four points from August, and 66 per cent said they will likely have more than two months to cover any unexpected costs.

The poll also found that the younger generation, those aged 18 to 34, are more optimistic than the other age groups that the economy will improve, however, they are more pessimistic on almost everything else.

The Canadian economy grew by 0.1 per cent in July as the annual inflation rate slowed to seven per cent in August. The steep inflation combined with interest rate hikes are continuing to impact personal finance and real estate, according to Statistics Canada.

The national agency also said people are putting less money into savings accounts due to the higher cost of living.

This survey was conducted between Oct. 4 to 6, 2022, among a random selection of 1,513 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.