A new Leger poll finds households coping, but wary, and the housing market is showing the strain
Most Canadians are managing their own finances well enough. What they can't shake is the feeling that the country around them is not.
A new survey from Leger — conducted online June 5–8, among 2,620 Canadians aged 18 and older — finds that 60% of respondents describe their household finances as good or very good. Yet only 33% say the same about the national economy.
The survey, the tenth wave of Leger's ongoing Economic Confidence tracking series, found that national sentiment is statistically unchanged from January.
"Perceptions of both national and personal finances remain largely unchanged this June, indicating Canadians continue to feel pessimistic about current economic conditions and the financial outlook," the report stated.
"While there is no evidence of further decline, a few modest improvements in future expectations suggest that confidence may be beginning to stabilize."
For mortgage brokers advising clients on whether to buy, refinance, or wait, the picture is one of cautious households doing their best and often putting major financial decisions on hold.
Fuel costs reshape household behaviour
The sharpest finding in the June Leger survey is the reach of rising fuel prices. Some 72% of Canadians say higher gas and diesel costs are having a negative impact on their personal finances. That number climbs to 75% in Alberta and 76% in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, according to the report.
The behavioural consequences go well beyond the pump. About 38% of respondents say they are going out less socially and staying home more as a result of fuel costs.
Another 35% are consolidating errands to save on gas. One-in-five are cutting summer travel plans entirely. These are not the spending patterns of households preparing to re-enter a housing market.
The inflation context matters here. Canada's annual inflation rate reached 3.2% in May 2026, its highest since December 2023, driven almost entirely by gasoline prices rising 33.2% year over year as the closure of the Strait of Hormuz constrained global oil supply.
The Bank of Canada held its policy rate at 2.25% for the sixth consecutive time on July 15, with the central bank monitoring whether the energy price shock will prove transitory.
What the housing data signals for brokers
The Leger survey's housing findings carry direct implications for the broker channel and they are not straightforwardly encouraging.
Nationally, 53% of Canadians believe home prices have risen over the past year, while 23% perceive a decline.
But whether prices are going up or coming down, Canadians are reading the movement as negative: 36% of those who perceived any price change said the shift was bad for their personal finances, compared with just 18% who called it good.
The survey also found that changing home prices are dampening market activity rather than stimulating it. Among Canadians who perceive prices as rising, 41% say the increase has made them less likely to buy, against just 13% who say they are more likely.
This matters for brokers navigating Canada's homeownership barriers in 2026, where economic uncertainty, not rates or prices specifically, has emerged as the dominant obstacle buyers cite.
Canada's national aggregate home price fell 1.4% year over year to $814,900 in the second quarter of 2026, according to the Royal LePage House Price Survey and Market Forecast released Tuesday.https://t.co/8rVwrl1UIL
— Canadian Mortgage Professional Magazine (@CMPmagazine) July 14, 2026
Regional divergence is pronounced. In Manitoba, 72% of respondents believe home prices have increased, placing upward pressure on affordability perceptions even as national conditions ease.
In British Columbia, respondents were evenly divided — 35% seeing an increase, 35% reporting a decrease — reflecting a market that RBC Economics described as still technically among the least affordable in Canada despite significant year-over-year improvement.
For brokers, the broader affordability picture for Canadian households facing persistent cost pressures is compounded by a savings erosion trend flagged separately by Boston Consulting Group, which found the bottom 80% of Canadian earners are now spending beyond their means, drawing down savings to sustain consumption.
Spending intentions edge higher — a thin thread of optimism
The survey does offer one indicator that households are not in free fall. The share of Canadians expecting to spend more over the next six months rose four percentage points to 24% in June from January's reading, while the proportion expecting to cut spending fell six points to 30%.
That narrows the net gap between those planning to spend more versus less to -6 percentage points, the smallest negative reading since June 2025, according to Leger's own tracking.
The improvement is modest and the numbers remain net-negative. Fewer than one-in-six Canadians (15%) expect the national economy to improve over the next six months, while 43% expect conditions to deteriorate. But the direction of travel, at least for household intentions, is less pessimistic than at the start of the year.
For mortgage professionals watching what the Bank of Canada's own surveys reveal about inflation expectations and consumer behaviour, the Leger data adds granular consumer-level texture to the macro picture.
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