In Canada and around the world, 2023 was marked by high interest rates and rising prices as inflation peaked in summer at 8.1%. Economic indicators give hope and greater expectations for 2024 but some concerns remain for Canadians this year.
The high cost of living including the rising cost of groceries is an issue for most people in Canada; this is in addition to mortgages, inflation and immigration adding to the top concerns. In a survey conducted by CTV News and Nanos research, Canadians have nominated the rising cost of living as the top issue to be prioritized by the House of Commons in 2024. Over 35% of Canadians are bothered by the rising cost of living followed by healthcare (14%), housing (13%), the environment (11%), debt (9%) and economy/jobs (8%).
About half of Canadian mortgage holders have concerns about making payments when their mortgage renews – 24% are worried and 28% are somewhat concerned. 52% of Canadians are concerned about upcoming mortgage renewals and whether they will be able to afford their renewed mortgage with rising interest rates. Canadians under 35 years of age are more concerned (around 62%) about mortgages while those over 55 are less concerned about mortgage renewals (around 36%).
With economic uncertainty, nearly half of Canadians would prefer that the federal elections happened in 2024 while one-third of Canadians are ready to wait until 2025.
The general acceptance of Canadians towards immigrants has been on a steady decline. About 61% of surveyed Canadians want Canada to accept fewer immigrants in 2024. The growing immigrant rates have been putting pressure on the rental and housing market and a significant number of Canadians feel that Canada should have a well-thought-through immigration policy.
These findings are from a research study managed by Nanos through a hybrid telephone and online survey conducted amongst 1,006 Canadians above 18 years of age or older, around December 2023. This study was commissioned by CTV and the research was conducted by Nanos Research.
