The Economic Squeeze
New data from Stats Canada reveals that Canadians are struggling financially, and that this is especially true for working-aged Canadians. This demographic is getting squeezed by a combination of high interest rates, high food costs, and a cooling economy.
In fact, the number of working-aged Canadians who report that its “very difficult or difficult for their household to meet their financial needs” has almost doubled from 21.7% in Q3 2021 to 39.9% in Q3 2023.
Quebecers Faring the Best, Maritimers Faring the Worst
When we drill down into the data, we find that only 27.1% of Quebecers feel that they are struggling financially, while 36.9% of those in the Atlantic Region feel the same way. Ontario and BC lie in between.
High Costs for Basic Needs, Stalling Wages to Blame
It comes as no surprise that working aged Canadians are struggling the most — they are often loaded up with debt and have families to feed. They are the demographic who feels the full effect of mortgage interest cost inflation, food inflation and shelter inflation.
The salt on the wound for this demographic is that wages have not kept pace with their bills – consider that wages are only up 10.3% since 2021, while mortgage interest costs have almost doubled.
