The Inflation Crisis: 74% of Canadians Are Concerned About Inflation in 2022

Toronto, Ontario, February 23rd, 2022 — A new Ipsos poll conducted on behalf of CanadaHelps.org reveals that most Canadians (74%) are concerned about inflation. With inflation reaching its highest level in 30 years it is not surprising that it is having a profound effect on Canadians. Indeed, the vast majority (82%) expect their financial situation to be negatively impacted in some way, including a sizeable proportion (15%) who say that they won’t be able to afford basic necessities (i.e., groceries, medicine, gas, etc.) and three in ten (29%) would need to cut back on basic necessities, if high inflation continues. A majority (52%) admit that they would need to reduce spending on non-essentials (i.e., travel, entertainment, eating out), one in three (33%) would need to reduce savings, fifteen percent (15%) would have to rely on savings outright to cover basic expenses, and around one in five would have to reduce debt repayments (19%) or charitable donations (22%), if high inflation persists.

The timing of high inflation is never ideal but in this case is perhaps exacerbated by the fact that its arrival has coincided with a global pandemic. It follows that, in 2022, most (71%) Canadians are concerned about their quality of life being negatively impacted in some way by either high inflation, the pandemic, extreme weather conditions, rising housing prices, mental illness, or a combination of some or all of the aforementioned issues. Most notably, one in five (19%) are concerned that they won’t be able to afford basic necessities (e.g. food, medicine, energy) because of the impacts of inflation and/or the pandemic.

At one in three (34%), many Canadians expect to use or are already using charitable services in 2022 to meet their essential needs (e.g. food, shelter, etc.), most of which say they are or will need to do so in response to the pandemic and/or high inflation. As it currently stands, as many as eight percent (8%) claim to be using charitable services to meet their basic needs, whereas twelve percent (12%) expect to require charitable support, in response to high inflation specifically, at some point in 2022 to meet their basic needs to cover food and shelter expenses, for example.    

While many Canadians may require charitable support, in response to high inflation and/or fallout from the pandemic, the survey results suggest that fewer think they will be in a position to donate to charities in 2022. Indeed, one in four (25%) plan to give less to charities in 2022 compared to 2021, including seventeen percent (17%) who cite the effects of inflation on their finances as the reason why they will be donating less to charities in 2022. A little over one in ten (12%) indicate that they will be donating less because they’re worried about the effect of the pandemic on their finances. By comparison, just fifteen percent (15%) plan to give more to charities in 2022 than they did in 2021. It is noteworthy, however, that six percent (6%) say they will give more to charities in 2022 because of the impact of inflation.

The survey offers evidence that charitable donations may already have been declining, in 2021, as high inflation began to emerge as an issue during the latter part of the year. Overall, nearly one-quarter (23%) report donating less to charities in 2021 than did in 2020, with one in ten citing high inflation (10%) or the pandemic (10%) as factors that limited their ability to donate in 2021. Conversely, one in six (16%) claim to have donated more to charity in 2021 than they did in 2020.

Lastly, the survey finds that concerns over inflation are driving expectations, as they relate to planned charitable behaviours and perceptions of how inflation will be impactful in 2022:

• Those who are at least moderately concerned about the inflation rate are more likely to say they’ll give less to charities in 2022 (31% vs. 7% of those who are not concerned) than they did in 2021.
• Those who are very concerned about the inflation rate are more likely to indicate that they will have to reduce how much debt they pay off (27% vs. 14% of those somewhat/not concerned), start using their savings to cover other expenses (27% vs. 10%), reduce spending on basic necessities (43% vs. 23%), or be unable to afford basic necessities (28% vs. 9%), as a result of high inflation in 2022.
• Canadians who say they will not need to access charitable services to cover basic necessities in 2022 are more likely, compared to those who say they will or might need to access charitable services for basic necessities indicated that they plan to give about the same to charity in 2022 as they did in 2021. Somewhat interestingly, those who say they will not need to access charitable services in 2022 for necessities are less inclined to say they will donate more to charity, compared to those who will or might need to access charitable services for basic needs.
• Notably, those who plan to give more to charities in 2022 than they did in 2021 are among the most likely to report that they gave more to charities in 2021 than in 2020. It follows that those who plan to give less to charities in 2022 than they did in 2021 are more likely to say they gave less to charities in 2021 than they did in 2020.

In sum, the results of this poll suggest that higher than normal inflation is causing Canadians to reduce spending and, in turn, charitable donations. With fewer giving money and more potentially needing support, this will likely put a strain on charities and households alike as 2022 progresses.

About the Study

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between January 28 and 31, 2022 on behalf of CanadaHelps.org. For this survey, a sample of 1,001 Canadians aged 18+ were interviewed. Weighting was then employed to balance demographics to ensure that the sample's composition reflects that of the adult population according to Census data and to provide results intended to approximate the sample universe. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll is accurate to within ±3.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all Canadians aged 18+ been polled. The credibility interval will be wider among subsets of the population. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error.

For more information on this Factum, please contact:

Sean Simpson
Senior Vice President, Ipsos Public Affairs
+1 416 324 2002
[email protected]

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