OTTAWA –
A new poll shows some Canadians are feeling more optimistic about the economic situation at home and in their own pockets, though not quite as well as they did before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Leger’s annual survey of economic confidence found that nearly 2 in 5 respondents rate the economy as good or very good, an increase from a similar survey in February. last.
However, just over half of respondents are not concerned with the state of the economy, with 54% rating it as poor or very poor.
That number is down from 61 percent of respondents to last year’s survey, but still well above the 36 percent recorded in February 2020 just before the first wave of the pandemic.
About two-thirds of respondents also indicated confidence in their personal finances, a number that had remained stable across surveys over the previous two years.
The poll of 2,399 Canadians who participated in an online panel between January 7 and 12 cannot be biased because internet panels are not considered a truly random sample.
Christian Bourque, executive vice president at Leger, said the results showed respondents were more optimistic about the economy than the market and economists had lowered expectations for the year. The poll indicates that optimism also extends to their personal finances despite high inflation rates.
“People are feeling a little more optimistic than one would think, and that’s certainly an increase from what we’ve seen over the past year in terms of overall optimism,” Bourque said.
The lowered expectations stemmed from signals from central banks on both sides of the border that their bottoming interest rates will rise this year to combat high inflation. There are also supply chain issues, and the spread of the Omicron variant has created economic headwinds for the start of 2022.
On Wednesday, the Bank of Canada released an updated outlook for the economy.
The central bank estimates the economy to grow 4.6% in 2021, down half a percentage point from its previous forecast in October, and now forecasts real gross domestic product growth in 2022 at 4%, down from 4.3%.
The Bank of Canada says part of this year’s downgrade is due to the impact of Omicron, hinting from governments that spending is easing earlier than expected and supply chain problems will have an impact. “larger and broader negative impact on economic activity” This year.
Canadians are generally quite optimistic about the national economy, mixed with some degree of caution for what might happen, which Bourque noted has reflected in regional results.
The biggest driver of optimism for the economy from last year to date has come from respondents in Alberta. However, the oil-producing province also has the largest percentage of respondents, 61%, which is the province with the least confidence in the economy.
Bourque said: “For Premier Kenney, it’s a different ‘what do I do with this now?’ “Let alone managing the pandemic, he is now faced with a population that feels that things are not going the way Alberta.”
Among the top financial worries cited by respondents were the value of their investments, the safety of their savings, and their ability to pay their bills.
Those were the same top issues in the poll conducted last February, although the results showed few respondents were worried about those issues in general.
This Canadian Press report was first published on January 26, 2022.
