Grim news for housing affordability: Canadians are saving less and less
The widening gap between income and spending
The lowest 20% of earners saw spending rise 27% between 2021 and 2025, against disposable income growth of just 3%. The middle 60% of households — the traditional engine of the Canadian consumer economy — found that income covered just 57 cents of every new dollar they spent.
Only the top quintile ended the period with their financial position broadly intact, with income growth outpacing new expenditure at 106%.
The result is a mounting savings crisis at the household level. The bottom quintile averaged -$39,000 in net annual savings by 2025 and took on 17% more debt even as their total asset base shrank, a net worth decline of approximately $35,000 per household.
The middle 60%, meanwhile, moved from modest positive savings to a per-household deterioration of roughly $7,000.
The BCG Global Consumer Radar Survey found that 41% of Canadians do not expect to save, or expect to save less, over the next six months, a figure that has held stubbornly above September 2024 levels.
