Survey reveals mounting credit stress pushes more workers to live paycheque to paycheque
Nearly half of Canadians say they are living paycheque to paycheque, leaving little room to save or handle financial shocks as costs for housing, food and fuel keep rising.
According to a new Vividata survey reported by BNN Bloomberg, 49 percent of respondents feel they are living paycheque to paycheque in its Study of the Canadian Consumer Winter 2026.
“Now that 49 percent number feels like they are living paycheque to paycheque. That’s an incredibly high number which is surprising and shocking,” said Pat Pellegrini, Vividata’s president and CEO.
The company describes the survey as the country’s largest syndicated study of consumer behaviour and media habits, surveying more than 75,000 Canadians annually across more than 100,000 variables.
The same research highlights mounting financial strain.
The survey found 37 percent of people feel overwhelmed by financial burdens, 58 percent report having less disposable income than before, and 71 percent say rising costs are reducing how much they can save.
Meanwhile, 74 percent said rising costs made them more careful about how they spend money.
Debt is a key part of that pressure.
Vividata’s survey, cited by BNN Bloomberg, shows one out of three people is unable to pay off their credit card bills each month, and 36 percent of Canadian credit card holders carry a balance and rely on credit cards when they are short of money.
In Canada, typical credit card interest rates sit around 20 to 24 percent, with some cards as high as 30 percent. Not paying off the balance each month makes it harder to get ahead.
“They are going to be paying debt instead of saving and using a credit card at the end of the month and that becomes a vicious cycle,” Pellegrini told CTV News Toronto.
Rising prices are intensifying that cycle.
BNN Bloomberg reports that many Canadians already felt stretched by the cost of food and housing before the new war in Iran pushed up fuel costs.
People were already “stretched before this new war in Iran,” with “the price of food and the price of housing” already high, said Mark Kalinowski of the Credit Counselling Society. Now, he added, drivers face an extra 16 to 20 cents a litre at the pump and “that’s money you have to pay — there is no option.”
Kalinowski also warned that making only the minimum monthly credit card payment can keep people in debt for years.
“When you only make your minimum monthly payment, it can take decades even to pay off a small balance,” he said.
Other obligations add to the pressure, with housing debt – both rents and mortgages – as well as expensive car loans weighing on many Canadians.
The advice from credit experts remains consistent: try to pay more than the minimum on credit cards, pay bills on time, and protect credit scores and credit ratings.
If a credit profile takes a hit, it can mark someone as a higher credit risk, which can lead to loan denials or higher interest rates at a time when many households already feel financially squeezed.
