New in-house federal research says one-third of Canadians either borrow from others or incur credit card debt to buy food, pay the rent or take care of other monthly expenses.
The report shows nearly four in 10 people now have credit-card balances typically charged at 19 % interest, according to Blacklock’s Reporter.
“This research supports mandate in monitoring how Canadians are managing their finances and the effects on their financial well-being,” said the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada’s report.
The study, called Data Collection For The 2024 Monthly Financial Well-Being Monitor, was dated Dec. 4 but was made public Monday.
The agency said elevated financial stress dates back to pandemic-era inflation.
“Canada’s inflation rate hit a 40-year high of 8.1% in June 2022 resulting in difficult economic conditions for Canadians including higher than usual prices for necessities like food, transportation and shelter as well as higher mortgage costs for Canadian homeowners,” wrote researchers.
Another 25% of those surveyed said they didn’t earn enough to cover their monthly expenses.
Of those polled, 38% told federal pollsters: “When it comes to bills and other financial commitments, I would say I am keeping up but it is sometimes a struggle.”
Another 15% said: “I am falling behind with bills.”
When asked, “In the past 12 months have you run short of money and had to use a credit card, overdraft or borrow to buy food or pay monthly expenses?” 33% said yes.
That rate went up to 43% for people under age 44.
The agency’s findings came from polling 12,355 people nationwide at a cost of $299,911 for monthly data updates by Ekos Research Associates Inc.