Canadians’ financial well-being on the decline: survey

Two in five (43 per cent) Canadian employees say they’re concerned about their financial future, according to Telus Health’s latest mental-health index.

Nearly half (45 per cent) of respondents said they feel overwhelmed by debt, with this group reporting the lowest mental-health (53.4) and financial well-being (48.1) scores. Indeed, the report found Canadians’ mental-health score declined in February to 62.9 from 64.8 in January.

Read: A third of Canadian workers at high mental-health risk: survey

Forty per cent of workers said an automatic savings/investment plan is the No. 1 benefit that could be offered by their employer, while 12 per cent chose a hardship or emergency fund. Notably, respondents without emergency savings were 70 per cent more likely than individuals with emergency savings to report a hardship or emergency fund as most valuable.

The survey also found more than a third (35 per cent) of employees are at high mental-health risk and 30 per cent of these respondents said they’ve been diagnosed with anxiety or depression.

For the 10th consecutive month, the lowest mental-health sub-score was anxiety (55.7), followed by isolation (59.1), work productivity (60.5), depression (61.2), optimism (65.3) and financial risk (66.7). General psychological health (70.5) continued to be the most favourable mental-health
measure in February.

Read: 81% of U.S. employees concerned about retirement readiness amid inflation: survey