Canadian consumers have been growing more confident both about their own economic well-being and that of the Canadian economy, according to a new Harris/Decima-Investor Group survey.
The survey, conducted in February, put the overall measure of confidence among Canadian consumers at 86.2, up from an 82.8 reading in November and much better than the 77.5 level recorded among U.S. consumers.
Overall, 31% of Canadians surveyed believed they would be better off financially a year from now, up from 27% in November. That compared with 13% who thought things might be worse, almost unchanged from 12% who felt that way in the previous survey.
Meanwhile, 24% of Canadians saw good things ahead for the economy in the next 12 months, up from 19% earlier and 14% of those surveyed expected the economy to get worse, unchanged from November.
A majority, 54% believed there will be good times financially for the Canadian economy in the next five years, while 31% believed there would be another recession over this period. This split is similar to the 52-to-34% split recorded last November.
Meanwhile, 51% believed that now is a good time to make a major purchase, while 31% believed it was a bad time. The November split was 50% to 35%.
Jack Courtney, a financial planning executive at Investors Group, said the survey results were “a clear indication that Canadians are gaining comfort with the economic recovery and are returning to more normal spending, saving and investing behaviours.”
The telephone survey of 2,000 people between Feb. 17 and Feb. 27 is considered accurate within plus or minus two percentage points 19 times out of 20.
