Cost of living crushing Manitobans’ spirit: poll

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Over half of Manitobans say they can’t keep up with the cost of living, according to a new Angus Reid Institute poll released Monday.

“I think there is a bit of concern that in the coming months and even years (the number of) people struggling financially… (will) increase,” said Nathan Bell, a licensed insolvency trustee with Grant Thornton Limited.

Nearly 60 per cent of the province’s 122 respondents said they couldn’t manage an unexpected expense exceeding $1,000.

Canada’s inflation rate surpassed five per cent, on a year-over-year basis, in January — its the highest jump in three decades, according to Statistics Canada.

Bell, who works with people and businesses managing debt, said he hasn’t seen an increase of insolvencies yet — but, it could be because of a number of factors, including pandemic-era government support.

“(The future is) really just going to be dependent upon things like inflation,” Bell said.

Gas and food prices are emptying people’s wallets, he noted.

“The other thing on the horizon, of course, is (higher) interest rates,” he said. “(That) will impact a lot of people who are carrying debt.”

As a result, Manitobans have made lifestyle changes. Fifty-eight per cent of the province’s poll respondents said they’d cut discretionary spending.

“Non-necessity items are the first things to go,” said Shaun Jeffrey, the Manitoba Restaurant and Foodservices Association’s CEO.

He listed dining and entertainment as those impacted.

“We’re just starting our recovery,” Jeffrey said. “Part of a successful recovery for our industry is a full engagement and re-engagement from Manitobans. Any deviation from that is going to be just detrimental.”

Restaurateurs are facing cost increases for supplies and need an influx in business, Jeffrey said. The timeline for returning to normal will elongate if eateries see a slow return of patrons, he said.

Forty-eight per cent of Manitobans reported delaying major purchases, while 35 per cent touted driving less, said Angus Reid’s poll.

“Seeing the gas prices here, it blows my mind,” said Jasmine Ings, who was shopping at Walmart’s Winnipeg West supercentre Monday.

Ings, 24, thinks twice before hopping in her car. She’s stopped buying shampoo bottles — there are cheaper bars online, she said — and scours the aisles for low-priced food items.

“I avoid certain products, for sure,” she said. “If I’ve noticed they went up in price, I just kind of boycott it, or I’ll go to another store that I know is cheaper.”

Debbie Brotherston’s diet now includes less red meat.

“A lot of stuff, I just don’t buy it if it’s (too expensive),” she said.

Her daughter doesn’t have as much money for fun activities with the kids because gas and food eat up most of the cash, Brotherston said.

Money is a source of stress for 70 per cent of Canadians, the Angus Reid Institute poll found. Forty-six per cent of Manitobans said they have too much debt, and 40 per cent reported being worried for themselves or a household member losing their job due to the economy.

“Insecurity over employment has been an undercurrent running through some regions of the country far more than others,” Shachi Kurl, Angus Reid Institute’s president, wrote in an email.

“Notable on the prairies (is) angst over the future of Canada’s resource economy.”

Women, people aged 35 to 54 and those who earn less than $50,000 a year were among the most concerned about keeping up with the cost of living, Kurl said.

Families and seniors with fixed incomes are among those to take inflation’s hardest hits, Grant Thornton’s Bell said.

“I think really having a budget and understanding what your monthly cost to live (is), I think (is) really step one,” he said.

From there, Manitobans can break down how much they spend on items and look for places to cut costs.

“The nice thing about the digital world is you can shop around quite easily,” Bell said, adding people can search for banks that provide no-fee accounts.

Twenty-six per cent of Manitobans deferred or stopped contributing to their RRSP or TFSA accounts, Angus Reid Institute’s poll found.

Getting help when needed is important, Bell said, adding he and others provide free consultations on finances.

Manitoba MP Daniel Blaikie is pointing to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as the reason for people’s worries of falling behind inflation.

“While Canadians are losing all the wiggle room in their budgets, the ultra-wealthy continue to benefit from special tax rules allowing them to legally avoid paying their fair share,” Blaikie, the federal NDP’s finance critic, said in a news release.

“There are things the Liberals could do to reduce the stress on Canadians’ monthly budget, but they are choosing instead not to act,” Blaikie said.

Angus Reid Institute conducted its online survey from Feb. 11 to 13, with 1,622 respondents. The margin of error is +/- 2.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

gabrielle.piche@freepress.mb.ca