Canadian residents are prepping their new year’s resolutions and reflecting on the past year — and a new survey is showing how attitudes have changed in 2023.
Roughly two out of five Canadians say they had an overall good year. However, roughly one quarter of respondents said it was more negative than positive with another quarter saying it was average, according to a Dec. 27 Angus Reid Institute (ARI) survey.
“On the financial well-being front, however, Canadians are — as they have expressed to ARI throughout the year — in a darker place,” said the institute in a statement.
Of those surveyed, 37 per cent used the word “grateful” to describe the past year, however 37 per cent also used the word “exhausting” and 28 per cent used the word “anxious” to describe 2023.
Though survey results show that many still associate the last year with positive emotions, there is a growing number of individuals who are struggling under the pressure of higher interest rates, inflation and declining purchasing power and budgets, resulting in difficulty keeping up with payments such as rent, mortgages and groceries.
While 70 per cent of respondents describe themselves as very or pretty happy, more than one-quarter said they are “not too happy.” This is up from 18 per cent in 2016.
“The latter figure represents a growing sense of unhappiness among Canadians since the Angus Reid Institute last asked this question in 2016, a pandemic, a period of historic inflation and turmoil ago,” said the pollster.
Canadians who are over 55 have a higher level of life satisfaction in addition to those living without kids.
“As well, Canadians who identify as visible minorities are more likely to be very dissatisfied with their life than others, especially when it comes to finances and physical health,” said Angus Reid.
