Canadians’ confidence in the economy has fallen to its lowest in two years, according to the results of the latest Nanos Research poll.
The percentage of Canadians who feel the economy will improve within the next six months fell to 16% from 29.2% in June 2011, while the number of Canadians who feel the economy will worsen over the next six months jumped to 38.6% from 23.6% in June. The last time Canadians felt this pessimistic was early 2009, when they were just climbing out of the market crash.
Quebec showed the lowest degree of confidence, with only 15.1% of those surveyed believing the economy will improve over the next six months, and 50% saying they expect no change. The Prairie provinces displayed the highest degree of confidence, although those numbers still remain dismal—only 38.3% said they expect the economy to improve within six months.
With respect to personal finances, just over half (51.1%) of Canadians surveyed saw no change in their finances over the past year, while 26.7% said they’re worse off, compared with 24.7% in Q2. More Canadians feel their personal finances are better off, although again, only minimally: 21.4% said they feel they’re financially better than a year ago, compared to 17.9% in June.