The overall index of consumer confidence in the economy rose in the period from February to June to 78.5, the highest the index has been since February 2008. In the United States, the index reached 68.7, a strong jump from February as well.
- Pessimism about the economic outlook for the coming year decreased dramatically with 29% anticipating bad times in the economy compared to 59% in February. The number who see good times ahead in the coming year doubled to 20% from the 10% recorded in February. And 44% of respondents believed business conditions wouldn't change in the coming year.
- Optimism also grew strongly in terms of the five year outlook. A majority of Canadians see good times ahead in the next five years (51%) compared to 39% in February.
- As they have even during the most difficult times in this recession, most Canadians continue to express optimism about their own economic situation. The number of Canadians who say they are worse off today than they were last year remained relatively steady at 29%, up 2 points from the February survey. Once again, people are far more likely to say they are doing about the same financially as they were last year (58%). 11% feel they are better off financially compared to a year ago, relatively unchanged since February.
- One in four Canadians (25%) believe they will be better off financially a year from now, while 11% believe they will be worse off. 56% believe they will be about the same financially a year from. This 2-to-1 ratio of optimism over pessimism is similar to what was seen in February's survey when 27% felt they'd be better off, and 13% felt they'd be worse off.
- Canadians continue to be more optimistic about making a major purchase. Today, 49% believe it is a good time to make a major purchase, while 34% feel it is a bad time to buy. In February, opinion was more split on the question with 41% seeing it as a good time to buy, and 43% a bad time.
According to Harris/Decima Senior Vice-President Jeff Walker, Canadians are seeing light at the end of the tunnel for the economy. While many remain unsure about how soon a recovery will happen, there is a growing consensus that it will happen, and that Canada's economic future is bright, much brighter than they felt just a few months ago".
"Canadians appear to be regaining confidence as the economy weathers the storm," said Jack Courtney, Assistant Vice-President, Advanced Financial Planning, at Investors Group. "The past few months have allowed Canadians to better assess their personal financial circumstances after the initial onslaught of negative economic news and events. It appears that this personal assessment coupled with the emergence of more positive developments on the economic front have given Canadians an increasing sense of confidence."
Each week, Harris/Decima interviews just over 1000 Canadians through teleVox, the company's national omnibus survey. These data were gathered May 21 through May 31 2009 for a sample of just over 2,000 respondents. The poll's margin of error is 2.2%, 19 times out of 20.