Half of Canadians Feel Worse Economically than During the Recession

The end of the recession hasn't provided any relief economically for half of Canadian households.

That's what the employees at Toronto-based advertising agency Bensimon Byrne found when they commissioned their Consumerology report this past July. The Gandalf Group interviewed 1,500 Canadians between the 6-13 of July 2010 and found that half of Canadians feel worse off financially now, than they did a year ago, during the recession. Not only that, but one third of Canadian citizens feel like the country is still in the midst of a recession right now and 21% say that someone in their household will lose their job this year.

"Consumer spending is based on reality, not hope," says Jack Benision, president of Benisimon Byrne. "With half of Canadians not feeling any personal recovery and a stubborn one third feeling like they're still in a recession, We can expect consumer spending to remain constrained."

These findings seem to go against the uptick of optimism permeating throughout the Canadian media after declaring an official end to the recession, according to Benisimon and his team. "Despite wide reports of optimism in the Canadian economy, there is much unrest in Canadian households," says Bensimon. Although, he does report that it's not all bad. "79% believe that the economy will get stronger than it is today, there are clearly a large number of Canadians who are expressing insecurity about their financial well-being and a lack of confidence in the economy."

This data mimics a similar poll by Angus-Reid, even though 53% of the 1,000 respondents believe the economy is in good shape, the August poll saw a six-point drop in positive responses since July. The 43% who believe the Canadian economy is in bad shape, has seen a nine point increase since the same poll in July. More than one third of people worry about their financial situation, leaving the number who don't at 61%. 51% of those polled still say the recession has yet to conclude. 75% of Canadians also still expect a price hike for groceries and gas, while only a third believe Stephen Harper's Conservative government will make sound decisions when it comes to the economy. That's probably why people say they would spend most of an extra $1,000 on outstanding debt ($362) and savings ($206).

Either way, those polled feel like they are being fed a bill of goods as far as how good the economy is doing and anxiety is rampant more than ever before.