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“People really are struggling … and a lot of it absolutely is tied to lost jobs.”

According to the survey, 78 per cent of Calgarians are concerned about poverty in the city. Stress about personal finance is affecting two out of every three Calgarians. One in four rate their ability to find suitable employment as poor or below average. And 61 per cent rate housing affordability as below average or poor.

With languishing low oil prices for more than three years, Calgary’s energy sector has been hit hard, shedding tens of thousands of jobs since 2014.

Experts say the city has been slow to recover, impacting poverty not just among low-income workers but former middle- to high-income workers who may still be out of work, and now are out of savings and buy-out packages.

“There is a group of people who have been laid off, who were for a time meeting their own needs,” Savoia added. “But that’s no longer the case now, and so many are really struggling.”

Savoia says last year more than 127,000 Calgarians were living below the poverty line, a significant jump from the previous year’s 114,000.

Within that group are also new Canadians, many arriving from Africa, Asia and the Middle East in recent years, says Cathy Coutts, executive director with Making Changes.

The group, which helps immigrants with job training and preparing for interviews, has found many are frustrated after arriving here thinking there would be more job opportunity than there is.