Nearly A Third Of Working Canadians Are Living Paycheque To Paycheque, A New Payroll Institute Survey Says

Twenty-eight per cent of working Canadians are living paycheque to paycheque and would struggle to meet their financial obligations if their pay was delayed by just one week, according to a survey from the National Payroll Institute released Tuesday.

This climbed from just under a quarter last year to its highest level in five years, said Peter Tzanetakis, president and chief executive at the institute.

And about 44 per cent of working Canadians are now financially stressed , rising from just one third last year to a record high, according to the institute.

This is more than double the proportion of respondents who reported being financially comfortable.

“It’s more than a warning sign,” said Peter Tzanetakis, president of the National Payroll Institute. “The jump in financial stress that we’ve seen just in the course of one year can be characterized as a financial crisis.”

Everyday costs, particularly for groceries and household products, were the top source of financial stress (55 per cent), followed by personal debt (46 per cent) in the survey.

The forced savings accumulated during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic as more Canadians stayed at home have dissipated, said Tzanetakis. “What’s happened of late is people are back at work, inflation is significant, rising costs and housing affordability are all contributing to this financial stress.”

Consumer prices climbed three per cent in August compared with the same month a year ago, according to the latest inflation data from Statistics Canada, with gas prices surging nearly 23 per cent.

Half of employed Canadians now spend all or more of their net pay , jumping from 41 per cent in 2025, according to the institute. Tzanetakis said this a huge problem, as eroded savings means working Canadians cannot easily absorb financial shocks or even rising costs.

This can also lead to greater reliance on high-interest debt, such as credit cards , to fund the costs of everyday essentials, he added. “That just exacerbates the problem because they are in that cycle of increasing their debt just to meet their financial obligations, and it’s a tough situation to get out of.”

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Across the country, Ontarians and Albertans reported the highest levels of difficulty meeting financial obligations if their paycheques were delayed by one week, at 31 per cent each. In Alberta, well over half of respondents reported spending all or more of their net pay and said that groceries were their biggest source of financial stress .

Higher financial stress among working Canadians comes with broader economic repercussions, Tzanetakis said. According to calculations from Canada’s Financial Wellness Lab, based at the University of Western Ontario, financial stress is costing employers and the Canadian economy an estimated $74.3 billion in lost productivity. This shows up through reduced motivation and productivity, taking more personal or sick days and strained workplace interactions, according to the report.

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