The Conference Board of Canada’s Index of Consumer Confidence decreased 8.4 points in March to its lowest point on record.
This month’s drop in confidence was widespread, with the balance of opinion deteriorating across all four survey components. Key findings include:
- Sentiments about future job opportunities have worsened in recent months with rising economic uncertainty, associated with potential tariffs, intensifying concerns about future employment prospects
- Declines in consumer confidence were seen in most other provinces this month as well. The Atlantic provinces were an exception, however, as confidence in that region saw a significant improvement in March
- As with job market sentiments, consumers’ financial confidence has been on a steady decline for some time
- Despite easing inflation and falling interest rates, ongoing economic uncertainty remained a significant factor impacting consumers’ financial sentiment. Views on major purchases followed a similar trend
Also the Bank of Canada said overall, results of the first-quarter 2025 Canadian Survey of Consumer Expectations “show that the escalating trade conflict with the United States is damaging consumer sentiment. Confidence in the labour market has weakened significantly, and consumers have become more pessimistic about their financial health. Although consumption plans had been improving over the past several quarters, consumers now intend to spend more cautiously given the uncertainty around the trade conflict. They expect the trade conflict to lead to a higher cost of living, and this has pushed up their inflation expectations.”
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