Most Canadians facing financial pressure entering Christmas holidays: survey

Financial stress and anxiety are crushing the Christmas spirit for most Canadians this year, with a new survey showing the majority are feeling significant pressure heading into the holidays.

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Financial stress and anxiety are crushing the Christmas spirit for most Canadians this year, with a new survey showing the majority are feeling significant pressure heading into the holidays.

The Angus Reid Institute’s annual Financial Pressure Index, which measures Canadians’ “economic reality and outlook on eight different variables,” found that many Canadians are feeling financial strain as the Christmas holidays approach.

The study revealed that more than one-fifth of Canadians reported feeling “high” levels of pressure this holiday season, with another 19 per cent reporting “medium pressure.”

Worse, “three-in-five among this worst-off group say they expect worse in 2026,” citing “job insecurity, difficulty putting food on the table, higher debt levels, and a generally pessimistic outlook on their finances.”

Only 23 per cent of respondents felt “very low” financial pressure. Of this group, just over half expect their situation to remain the same in 2026, while 42 per cent anticipate “improvement over the next year.”

Meanwhile, the largest cohort, at 37 per cent, reported low levels of financial pressure this Christmas. This group said they have “stable working lives, relatively stable outlooks for the coming year, and manageable (though not easy) housing payments – whether renting or paying a mortgage.”

“In a year full of tariff turmoil and economic anxiety, the cost of living continues to dominate the minds of Canadians heading into 2026,” reads the survey. “Three-in-five (59 per cent) choose this as their top issue, well ahead of health care (41 per cent), housing affordability (26 per cent) and the economy (23 per cent).”

The rising cost of groceries was a top concern for nearly two-in-five Canadians, a worry that increases to a majority among those with a household income below $50,000 annually. This concern was followed by housing affordability (26 per cent) and the economy more generally (23 per cent).

The Angus Reid Institute has tracked Canadians’ economic perceptions for more than a decade. Their latest findings show that fewer Canadians report being worse off now than they were a year ago, compared to the previous year’s survey.

However, a significant portion still holds this view, at 36 per cent, with 47 per cent saying they are in about the same place financially as they were heading into last Christmas, and only 15 per cent reporting they were better off.

Still, the hope for upward mobility eludes many of Canada’s worst-off financially, with nearly 60 per cent saying they expect it to be worse next year.