Higher interest rates are making it more difficult for Canadians to make their monthly mortgage payments, according to a new survey by the Angus Reid Institute.
The poll found that 15% of Canadians are finding it “very difficult” to pay their mortgage in the current environment, up from 11% in June and 8% in March of this year.
Furthermore, 79% of survey respondents say they are “worried” or “very worried” that they will face higher payments when it comes time to renew their mortgage, especially people who have
variable-rate mortgages that fluctuate with interest rates.
The average interest rate charged on a home mortgage in Canada is now above 7% after the Bank of Canada aggressively raised rates over the last two years to help lower inflation.
Canada’s central bank held its key interest rate steady in September and is expected to pause again at its next policy meeting on Oct. 25.
However, Bank of Canada executives have stressed that they are willing to raise interest rates further, if needed, to bring inflation back down to their 2% annualized target.
The September inflation reading in Canada showed that consumer prices declined to an annualized 3.8%.
The Angus Reid poll also found that half (50%) of respondents feel that they are in worse financial shape today than they were a year ago.
The online survey was conducted from Oct. 9 to13 among 1,878 Canadian adults. The poll has a margin of error of +/- 2 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
