CM Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce

Food leads housing as the category impacting residents the most

TORONTO, Aug. 13, 2024 /CNW/ - A new poll from Ipsos, conducted on behalf of Simplii Financial, shows that nearly half of Canadians (46 per cent) are losing sleep over the increased cost of living, and a similar percentage (47 per cent) are experiencing some strain on their personal relationships due to economic pressures.

Despite ongoing concerns, Canadians have proven themselves resilient. With food and housing top of mind, respondents said they were implementing the following strategies to keep their cost of living under control:

• Dining out less (56 per cent)
• Shopping at multiple grocery stores (45 per cent)
• Opting for more budget-friendly food options (37 per cent)
• Delaying large purchases (28 per cent)
• Delaying moves (25 per cent)

"Canadians are making more prudent spending decisions, and it looks like they plan to do so for the foreseeable future," says Jimmy Dinh, Managing Director and Head, Simplii Financial. "While the Bank of Canada's recent rate cuts should come as a relief for some, people are generally expecting things to get better in the long run."

Nearly two thirds of those polled said the Bank of Canada's previous rate cut in June wasn't helpful in advancing their personal financial situation (63 per cent) and/or overall happiness (64 per cent). The poll also found that four times as many Canadians expect the economic conditions to get worse regarding inflation (worse: 43 per cent vs. better: 9 per cent), while three times as many Canadians anticipate that the national economy will fare worse (worse: 34 per cent vs. better: 10 per cent).

But in spite of ongoing pressures, more than half of Canadians (52 per cent) expect the economic storm to pass and remain optimistic about their financial future, indicating a resilient longer-term outlook and fewer sleepless nights ahead.

Some tips from Simplii Financial on managing the cost of living include:

• Shrinking recurring expenses—Recurring costs like insurance, loan interest, mobile bills, or even bank fees can be easy to forget but renegotiating them or going no-fee could save hundreds of dollars each year.
• Parking your car—The average annual cost of car ownership in Canada is in the tens of thousands of dollars so whether you're able to get by with the occasional rental or other forms of transportation is worth some serious consideration.
• Focusing on income—At the end of the day, cutting costs will only get you so far. Career development, higher education, a side hustle, or even renting a room could increase earning potential and relieve the pressure on your wallet.

Disclaimer
These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between June 21 and 25, on behalf of Simplii Financial. For this survey, a sample of 1,150 Canadians aged 18+ were interviewed online. Sample was sourced from the Ipsos panel. Weighting was employed to balance demographics to ensure that the sample's composition reflects that of the adult population according to Census data and to provide results intended to approximate the sample universe. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll is accurate to within ±3.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all Canadians been polled. The credibility interval will be wider among subsets of the population.

About Simplii
Simplii Financial provides direct banking services to approximately 2 million Canadians with 24/7 access to online, mobile, and telephone banking with no monthly fees. Simplii clients can also access one of the largest national ATM networks through CIBC. For more information about Simplii Financial, please visit www.simplii.com or by following on X @SimpliiFin, Instagram @SimpliiFin, or on Facebook.

SOURCE Simplii Financial