Half of Canadians $200 away from financial trouble: survey

Half of Canadians close to financial trouble Jason Gaidola reports on a new study which found half of Canadians are $200 or less away from financial trouble.

A new poll suggests that more Canadians are concerned about going into financial trouble.

According to an Ipsos survey conducted for solvency firm MNP Limited in December, nearly half of people across Canada say they’re $200 or less away from financial insolvency at month’s-end. The new poll shows a jump to 46 per cent, up from 40 in the last quarter in Sept. 2018.

Gord Neudorf, senior vice-president of MNP Limited in Winnipeg said the new poll is alarming.

“The squeeze is getting tighter and tighter,” Neudorf said. “Interest rates are starting to rise in all types of financing.”

Residents of Manitoba and Saskatchewan were most likely to be financially insolvent at 56 per cent, which is eight percentage points up from September’s numbers.

Leigh C. Taylor, an insolvency trustee said major debt like mortgages and car payments are fixed expenses that are common. He said the practice of cutting down small day-to-day expenses is the key to get back into a healthy financial life.

“You want to put it down on paper, how much money you have coming in and where you are spending it,” Taylor said.

The polls also suggested that four in ten Canadians don’t think they could cover all of their living and family expenses in the next 12 months without going into further debt.

Ipsos conducted the poll online from Dec. 7 to 12 and surveyed 2,154 people nationwide.

The survey was not assigned a margin of error. The polls were measured using a credibility interval.