Consistent with last year’s findings, many Canadians are concerned about affordability, especially regarding saving for retirement. When asked about a wide range of concerns, Canadians placed the cost of day-to-day living (55% very concerned) and having enough money in retirement (48%), at the top of the list. (“Very concerned” means a rating of 7-9 on a scale of 1 to 9.)

• Canadians are more concerned about having enough in retirement than they are about their personal debt load (31%), job security (26%), as well as their own physical (43%) and mental (40%) health.
• Concerns about having enough money for retirement are strong across all income levels; be it those making $50K or less (52% very concerned) or those making over $100K (42%).

Approximately half (52%) of Canadians have had their own financial situations harmed since March 2020; 19% had their finances harmed a great deal.

• Canadians aged 44 and younger are twice as likely to have had their finances greatly harmed (25%) than Canadians over the age of 60 (12%).
• Likewise, Canadians earning less than $50K are twice as likely to have had their finances greatly harmed (25%) than those earning over $100K (12%).

Approximately 46% of Canadians have been able to save more than they otherwise would have since the onset of the pandemic. Among this group, almost half (52%) saved nothing for retirement in the past year.

Overall, most Canadians have not set aside or saved anything for retirement in the past year (63%), which is up 5 points since the last year.

Across all income levels, Canadians continue to demonstrate a broad consensus that there is an emerging retirement crisis (67%) and that saving for retirement is prohibitively expensive (65%).

• While half of Canadians have set money aside for emergencies, only 37% saved for retirement in the past year.
• Putting money aside for retirement is a challenge for many, due to the affordability challenges Canadians face today.
• The most common reason to not save is living paycheque to paycheque. One in three (36%) Canadians identify with this reality.
• Other commonly cited reasons include low interest rates and being unsure about how much to save.
• More than half of Canadians (53%) had an emergency fund before COVID, and this remains unchanged today (51%). Those with incomes of over $100K were nearly twice as likely to currently have an emergency fund (67%) than those with incomes below $50K (38%).

There is a still a strong interest among Canadians in acquiring a pension plan (or a better pension plan). Consistent with last year’s survey results, a majority of Canadians (71%) are still willing to forgo a higher salary for a pension plan. There is also strong support for ensuring all workers have access to a pension. The vast majority of Canadians say that all workers should have access to affordable (85%) and efficient (83%) retirement savings arrangements, which is also in line with last year’s survey results. Another 74% believe that if workers are not able to access good workplace pensions and contribute during their working lives, they will become a burden on taxpayers.

• A majority of Canadians (77%) say that employers have a responsibility to offer a pension plan so that employees can have adequate retirement income.
• Most also agree that governments can save money by supporting pensions that are more affordable (65%).
• 75% agree that without good pensions in place, the economy will suffer.
• 80% believe that without good pensions at work, Canadian seniors will experience poverty.