British Columbians feel slightly more optimistic about Canada’s economy and their personal finances compared to people in the rest of the country.
That’s according to a new report by market research company Leger, which recently surveyed hundreds of people across the country about their money worries.
“The dramatic rise in mortgage and rent costs this past year is forcing Canadians to scramble to find ways to cover these increased costs in their monthly budget, impacting spending and savings habits profoundly,” Steven Mossop, Leger’s executive vice president for Western Canada, said in a news release.
“Our latest report shows that housing affordability is the number one issue nationally, which is the primary culprit in holding back any sustained economic recovery in our country.”
Of course, British Columbians are no stranger to wildly unaffordable housing costs. Housing is still the biggest item of concern for folks in BC, but other measures paint a slightly more optimistic picture.
Measures of current and future confidence show small boosts, suggesting a corner may have been turned after post-pandemic inflation put stress on many households. Still, that emerging sense of recovery is slow. Confidence in provincial and national economies, as well as household finances, are lower than at many points in the past.
Discretionary spending is also looking more buoyant in BC now than it was six months ago or last fall, which Leger suggests is a positive thing for the economy.
Sky-high housing costs are what’s preventing people in British Columbia from being even more optimistic about the future. Residents are seeing their mortgage payments and rent costs increase — with more renters than owners reporting rises in housing costs.
Leger
“Clearly demonstrating why housing affordability is the number one issue in BC, fully half of the province’s residents who pay mortgage or rent report an increase in their payments over the past two years. This rises to a phenomenal two-thirds among renters,” the report said.
Folks in BC are reigning in their takeout and entertainment budgets and planning less luxurious vacations to make up for the increase in housing costs, the survey suggested.
Overall, concerns about housing affordability dominate worries in BC — even more than on a national scale. Other provinces report rising homelessness as a chief concern. But other measures of economic confidence are slightly more optimistic in BC than elsewhere in the country, suggesting some people think we may be heading toward better times.