MNP index finds 42% of Canadians fear AI will erode their employment or income
Fifty-four percent of Canadians do not have enough savings to support themselves and/or their family for six months if they lose their job without borrowing or falling behind on bills.
The latest MNP Consumer Debt Index found that 36 percent of respondents, up two points, are not confident in their ability to cope with loss of employment or changes in wage or seasonal work without increasing their debt.
A third, 34 percent and up one point, lack confidence in their ability to cope financially with an illness that prevents them from working for three months.
The index also recorded that 55 percent of working Canadians are concerned about job mobility and career opportunities as economic uncertainty, tariffs and trade tensions, and the rise of artificial intelligence reshape the outlook for jobs and income.
Tariffs, trade disputes or broader economic instability are a concern for 27 percent of working Canadians, and 32 percent worry they would struggle to find a new job offering similar pay and benefits.
Job market uncertainty is keeping a quarter of working Canadians, 25 percent, in their current roles, according to the index.
One in five, 19 percent, feel less secure in their job than they did a year ago, and 20 percent would like to change jobs but do not feel financially secure enough to risk a period of lower or no income.
Grant Bazian, president of MNP LTD, said in the index release that changing jobs can involve "a period of uncertainty around pay, benefits, or how quickly the next opportunity will arise."
A short gap in income can carry "real financial consequences" for someone already managing debt, Bazian said.
Three in five working Gen Z Canadians, 60 percent, and 59 percent of Millennials expressed concern about job mobility and career opportunities.
That compares with 55 percent of working Gen X and 26 percent of Boomers.
Among Gen Z Canadians, 22 percent have learned new skills to enhance their career opportunities, 16 percent report working a second job, 14 percent have monetized a hobby or passion project, and 9 percent have used AI tools to generate income.
A third of Millennials, 34 percent, have sold goods online, compared with 21 percent of Canadians overall.
Across all Canadians, 47 percent say they have tried to earn additional income in some way.
Selling goods online was the most common approach at 21 percent, followed by learning new skills at 11 percent, a second job at 9 percent, monetizing a hobby, skill or passion project at 9 percent, and freelance or contract work at 8 percent.
More than four in 10 Canadians, 42 percent, worry AI could negatively affect their employment or income.
One in seven, 14 percent, say they are worried AI will make some of their skills less valuable, rising to 17 percent among working Canadians.
Canadian workers divide nearly evenly between concern that AI could reduce their income, hours or earning potential, at 16 percent, and concern it could reduce job opportunities within their field, at 15 percent.
The index has risen to 95 points, up four points, though confidence remains below historical levels.
More than two in five Canadians, 44 percent and down two points, report being $200 or less away from financial insolvency each month, with the Bank of Canada holding the policy interest rate at 2.25 percent.
