Photo Credit: Paul Chiasson/Canadian Press

Canadians less confident about their finances: CIBC poll

As Canadians survey the ravages of the holiday season and the continuously diving loonie on their wallets, the good news is over two-thirds say they still feel positive about their current financial situation.

The bad news, according a recent poll by CIBC, is that number has dropped by about 5 per cent from a year ago, when 74 per cent of Canadians felt good about their financial situation.

Not surprisingly this decline in confidence is led by Alberta, whose oil-driven economy has been battered by falling crude prices, says the survey conducted by Angus Reid Forum.

Alberta is now the least positive region in the country with just 62 per cent feeling positive, down 21 per cent from last year.

Sentiment in Ontario and Quebec, whose manufacturing and service industries have yet to experience the benefits of the cheaper Canadian dollar, is also lower in this year’s survey with 68 and 71 per cent respectively.

While baby boomers remain the most positive about their finances, they also saw the biggest decline in this year’s survey falling from 82 per cent a year ago to 74 per cent this year, according to the survey.

Still, eight in ten Canadians say they are confident they will meet their future financial goals

The two most optimistic regions are Manitoba and Saskatchewan, where 88 per cent of those surveyed believe they will achieve their financial goals, the highest score in the country.

Atlantic Canada remains the most pessimistic region, with 69 per cent of respondents saying they felt confident they will achieve their financial goals.

The online survey was conducted from December 7th to 8th, 2015, among 1,508 randomly selected Canadian adults who are Angus Reid Forum panelists. The margin of error – which measures sampling variability – is +/- 2.5 per cent, 19 times out of 20. 

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