Canadians feel the squeeze of rising inflation, survey finds

Higher expenses are leading to more Canadians living paycheque-to-paycheque and taking on growing credit card debt, according to a national survey.

It all adds up to life getting less manageable for many Canadians of late.

"Because of the rising interest rates, because of the increase in food costs, because of the increase in gas costs, where they were able to manage it before, they’re no longer able to," said Kailey Taylor, of David Reynolds and Associates in Sudbury.

“It’s something that they’ve been able to keep on top of. But now, there truly is less left at the end of every month.”

The study from the National Payroll Institute suggests 26 per cent more Canadians are living paycheque-to-paycheque compared to last year. In addition, 11 per cent are spending more than they make.

That's leaving less for the future: nine per cent of respondents said they don't save anything.

“I live paycheque to paycheque. I don’t have a big bank account, I don’t save that much money,” one person told CTV Northern Ontario.

“It’s by no means easy, in this day and age, this environment, there is inflation,” said another.

Taylor said the combination of rising costs and static income leads to an obvious conclusion.

“The fact that people don’t have savings or that there’s more people who are unable to save doesn’t surprise me,” she said.

It's not a problem that will be solved any time soon, particularly for people who sign mortgages while rates are rising.

“There current mortgage payment could be paid with their current level of debt servicing, it’s going to be more of a struggle," Taylor said.

"They’re going to make sure that their mortgage payment is a priority, which means that it’s going to come from the line of credit, or it’s going to come from the credit card payment.”

Taylor said people should live within their means -- and speak to a professional to make sure they're not overspending.