Financial counselling advised for Albertans with debt as poll finds money worries creep into work

The rising cost of living is stressful and a new study shows financial worries are beginning to affect Albertans’ job performance.

Rising prices everywhere, from grocery stores to utility bills, are stressing out Albertans, so much so that a new study shows financial worries are following people to work.

A recent survey by Money Mentors and pollster Angus Reid found that financial stress is becoming a burden at work for the province’s residents.

Nearly 60 per cent of people surveyed said money problems have affected their job performance in the past year.

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Stacy Yanchuk Oleksy, the chief executive officer of Money Mentors, says that over the two years she’s been in the role, she’s seen a steady stream of people using her firm’s services – which include free financial counselling, education and debt repayment programs on behalf of the province – to get out of debt.

And while the number of people accessing Money Mentors services is steady, she said they’re dealing with more people in crisis.

“We’re seeing that the cost of living still goes up, but our wages are not keeping on track at the same pace, so Albertans are getting squeezed, and they’re leveraging their credit to supplement living expenses,” Yanchuk Oleksy, who’s based in Calgary, told CTV News Edmonton.

“We’re post-COVID, but that still has an impact on us. Then I would suggest that post-COVID, we see a lot of mental health issues come out of the wordwork, because money is never just about money. It’s about your relationship with it, and when you’re dealing with safety and security issues, inevitably it’s going to exacerbate any kind of challenges you’ve got.”

Local registered psychologist Dr. Ganz Ferrance says those worries can sometimes become visible at work as uncertainty is “one of the most difficult things” people struggle with.

“When you have uncertainty generally, but then you have uncertainty about your finances and all the emotions that go along with that, it can be extremely stressful,” Ferrance told CTV News Edmonton. “Then you have the kind of domino effects that happen in your personal life, your health, your relationships, different things like that. They all add to the cumulative toxic stress level that people have to walk around with.”

Both Yanchuk Oleksy and Ferrance said people under financial stress should seek counselling to alleviate their money worries and reduce the stress around it.

“What we’re trying to do is extricate or pull apart shame,” Yanchuk Oleksy said. “Even if you have debt problems, you don’t have to feel ashamed like you are bad. You maybe have made a bad decision. Trust me, we’ve all done that right, including me. It’s just now, let’s just deal with it ...

“As soon as you have a plan for your money, you can calm down. You just work your plan. It’s when you don’t have a plan and it’s swirling around in your thoughts and emotions, that’s where we go kind of nuts.”

Ferrance said talking about financial stress can help ease one’s mind if only because they’re sharing their worries.

“When we can step into that truth for ourselves, it’s a burden off,” he said. “It doesn’t mean it’s going to solve the external problems, but at least we’re not adding the layers of stress or keeping a secret or trying to hide or trying to pretend that everything is OK.

“If there is something that’s impacting your work, say, like finances or stress, talking to your employer about it (and saying), ‘Look, I get that this is what my performance is like. Here’s what else is going on for me. Not that you can fix it, but at least you have a context, and if you have the context, maybe you’ll understand why certain behaviours show up or certain performance might show up. And as these things get reconciled, as they get fixed, my performance should get back to normal.’”