Angus Reid Institute reported on Monday that Canadians are spending less as inflation continues to pile pressure on their budgets.
In a survey the researchers found that four out of five Canadians have reduced their spending in recent months, either by delaying major purchases, driving less, reducing charitable expenses, traveling less, trimming their discretionary budget, or deferring saving for the future. This is an increase of 74% over the numbers of respondents in February.
More than half of respondents said they could not handle a sudden emergency expense of more than $1,000. And two in five said that a surprise bonus of $5,000 would be used to offset debt pressures, rather than save or spend. One in ten said such a bonus would immediately be applied to daily expenses.
The report went on, “Regionally, some parts of the country seem to be feeling more financial pain than others,” noting Saskatchewan and the Atlantic area were harder hit.
Canada’s inflation hit a 40-year high in June, as the Consumer Price Index hit 8.1% year over year. The annual inflation rat cooled off somewhat in July, dropping to 7.6%, according to a Statistics Canada analysis.
Across the globe, a worsening energy crunch has been driving inflation up throughout the developed world, as tight supplies of oil and gas have been made worse by the removal of Russian supplies due to Western sanctions imposed in response to the military actions in Ukraine.
