Survey: Bank of Canada's credibility is taking serious blows

Many Canadians feel that the central bank is not fulfilling its mandate of cooling down inflation while avoiding a recession

Survey: Bank of Canada's credibility is taking serious blows

Amid the steady upward trend in living and housing costs, mistrust towards the Bank of Canada continues to mount, according to a new study by Angus Reid.

The scepticism is spurred by the central bank’s significant role in establishing policy to cool down inflation while avoiding a recession.

Nearly half (46%) of Angus Reid’s respondents indicated a belief that the BoC will fulfill its mandate adequately, but almost the same share disagree (41%). Much of the distrust stems from past Conservative (59%) and PPC (86%) supporters.

Read more: Former BoC governor: Central bank made a “fairly serious” communications mistake

The fears are being driven by the fact that for 45% of respondents, they are currently worse off financially compared to last year. Angus Reid said that this was the highest share for this measure in at least 12 years.

Only 22% of Canadians who hold mortgages said that their income has increased, while 53% said that they are preparing themselves for more fiscal pain considering the central bank’s outsized interest rate hikes.

While 35% of Canadians said that they can accommodate a monthly expense increase of $150, as much as 66% said that they would have to make drastic changes to their financial plans should the monthly expense increase double to $300.