A majority of Canadians feel like the economy is in a bad state.

The latest National Campaign Research Poll conducted among 2,370 Canadians revealed that most Canadians are feeling particularly bearish on the state of the economy. We asked Canadians a series of questions on their perceptions of the economy and found that, in many cases, a majority of Canadians feel like the economy is in a bad state.

When asked whether one’s “personal financial situation has improved over the past few years”, 52% would disagree with that statement. Older Canadians are most sour, with 60% of 55+ year olds disagreeing their personal financial situation has gotten better. Conversely, millennials were most bullish on their personal fortunes, with 65% agreeing that their situation has improved. Regionally, Albertans and Atlantic Canadians are most likely to disagree while Quebecers are most likely to agree their situation has improved.



A resounding 82% of Canadians would disagree that “life is becoming more affordable”. Mirroring other results, older Canadians were more likely to disagree with that statement while younger Canadians believe are less likely.

On more basic pocket book issues like “I’m living pay cheque to pay cheque”, a majority of Canadians (54%) suggested they live like that. Most likely to suggest that are millennials, with 62% of them claiming they live pay cheque to pay cheque, while older Canadians are significantly less likely to say that. Consumers in Atlantic Canada, Alberta and the Prairies were most likely to suggest that they live pay cheque to pay cheque. Similarly, and not surprisingly, lower income Canadians claim they live pay cheque to pay cheque.

On issues related to taxation, Canadians overwhelmingly believe that “the government collects too much in taxes from me” (77%) & “I feel like I pay more than my fair share of taxes” (80%). Again, younger Canadians were more likely to disagree with these statements, while older Canadians agree with them.

“Canadians are feeling like the economy has left them behind. Most Canadians claim they live pay cheque to pay cheque, and life is becoming more expensive. These issues relate to the consumer-side of a Canadians budget. When asked about issues related to taxation, Canadians resoundingly feel like they pay too much in taxes. In short, Canadians are getting squeezed on all sides” said Eli Yufest, CEO of Campaign Research.

METHODOLOGY

This online study was conducted by Campaign Research as part of its monthly omnibus study between November 6 to November 9 through an online survey of 2,370 randomly selected Canadian adults who are members of Maru/Blue’s online panel Maru Voice Canada and were provided with various incentives to respond. The panelists were selected to reflect Canada’s age, gender and regional distributions in line with 2016 Statistics Canada census data. For comparison purposes, a probability sample of this size has an estimated margin of error (which measures sampling variability) of +/- 2.0%, 19 times out of 20.

The results have been weighted by education, age, gender, and region (and in Quebec, language) to match the population according to 2016 Census data. Certain areas or groups may be oversampled but have been weighted to reflect their proportion of Canada’s population. This is to ensure the sample is representative of the entire adult population of Canada. Discrepancies in or between totals are due to rounding.

The following screening question was asked in order to determine eligibility for participation in the study

"Are you 18 years of age or older and eligible to vote in federal elections?"