One in three Canadians was living in a household that was struggling financially last month, a Statistics Canada report has found.
Thirty-three percent of survey respondents, aged 15 and older, said it was either difficult or very difficult throughout the month of October to pay for essentials like housing, food, clothing, and transportation.
Southern Ontario appears to be the hardest hit region with 41.8 percent of respondents in St. Catharines–Niagara reporting difficulty in making ends meet. That was followed by 41 percent in Windsor, 40.7 percent in Kitchener–Cambridge–Waterloo, 38.1 percent in Toronto, 37.6 percent in Hamilton, 36.2 percent in London, and 35.2 percent in Oshawa.
Breakdown By Household Type
Renters were more likely to struggle financially than homeowners, the report found. In fact, 41.3 percent of renters had financial difficulties compared to 36.1 percent of those living in a mortgaged home. That number dropped to 20 percent for those living in homes without a mortgage.Nearly half—48.7 percent—of single-parent families in which the parent was employed struggled to meet their financial needs compared to 69.8 percent of families in which the parent was unemployed. Thirty-six percent of dual-income families with children had financial difficulties.
Many immigrants who have come to Canada in the past decade have also been struggling, the report found. While 30.8 percent of those born in Canada reported financial strain, 44.7 percent of newcomers are finding it difficult to make ends meet.
Rising Costs
Although inflationary pressures have eased since last year, the “higher cost of essential goods and services continues to place financial pressures on many households across Canada,” the report reads.In September, for example, the cost of shelter rose six percent while the price of food increased 5.9 percent, outpacing the average annual wage growth of five percent.
The Canadian economy added 17,500 jobs in October, while the jobless rate crept up to a 21-month high of 5.7 percent, the StatCan report said. The unemployment rate has increased four times in the past six months and is now at its highest level since hitting 6.5 percent in January 2022. The rate has increased by 0.7 percentage points since April after holding steady at a near record-low of five percent from December 2022 to April 2023.
Seventy-one percent of those polled said they are living in a community in which a housing crisis exists and 59 percent think many Canadians will be forced to default on their mortgage payments due to high interest rates.
