Majority of Canadians think country is in recession, new polls shows

More than 80 per cent of Canadian respondents said they believe prices will keep going up, and 59 per cent say they think Canada is in an economic recession.

Most Canadians believe the country is in a recession and that prices are going to continue to rise for the foreseeable future, according to a new poll.

A wide-ranging survey by Leger asked Canadians and Americans about issues including travel plans, airport delays and inflation.

More than 80 per cent of Canadian respondents said they believe prices will keep going up, and 59 per cent say they think Canada is in an economic recession.

That’s likely not good news for economists or business owners, said Leger vice-president Andrew Enns.

“It’s sort of a proxy question for how you feel about the economy,” he said.

“Between that and the rising inflation and the tightening of household budgets, that probably is not going to be something that’s going to encourage much consumer spending.”

The outlook was similarly bleak south of the border, where 64 per cent said the U.S. is in a recession, while 19 per cent said they didn’t know. But only 66 per cent of Americans feel prices will continue going up, and 16 per cent said things are starting to get better.

The online survey was completed by 1,538 Canadians and 1,002 Americans between July 8 and 10. It cannot be assigned a margin of error because online polls are not considered truly random samples.