It’s becoming painfully clear that for many Canadians, the dream of financial stability is slipping further out of reach. A new report from Willful, a Canadian online estate planning platform, reveals what most of us are already feeling the high cost of living isn’t just squeezing our wallets; it’s delaying our lives.
According to the survey, more than half of Canadians (58 per cent) say they’ve had to postpone major life goals because of the economy. These aren’t minor plans we’re talking about. They include buying a home, saving for retirement, paying off debt, or even something as basic as creating a will.
Erin Bury, Willful’s co-founder and CEO, put it perfectly: “We all intend to check these financial items off our list and we don’t. And sometimes that’s because of feasibility because we simply just don’t have the means to do so.”
That hits home for many Canadians. Intentions are good, but when the grocery bill, rent, or daycare fees eat up most of your paycheque, intentions don’t pay the mortgage. Nearly half of survey respondents (46 per cent) said they’ve dipped into savings just to cover daily expenses. That’s not sustainable and it’s certainly not the foundation for a secure future.
What’s particularly worrying is that financial optimism is on the decline. Willful’s survey found that the national score dropped from 52 per cent last year to 46 per cent in 2025. That’s a big dip in confidence, and it’s not hard to see why.
Sure, interest rates have fallen from 4.25 per cent in 2024 to 2.25 per cent today but that relief hasn’t reached everyone. As Bury notes, not everyone benefits equally. If you don’t have a variable-rate mortgage or a flexible line of credit, those rate cuts might not change a thing for you.
And while lower interest rates sound nice on paper, they can’t undo the broader pressures families face from surging housing costs to higher prices for everyday necessities. Even the middle class, once considered financially stable, is finding itself stuck renting longer than expected, unable to break into a housing market that seems more like a mirage than a milestone.
The situation reflects a larger economic paradox: on one hand, the Bank of Canada is loosening monetary policy to make life more affordable, yet on the other hand, households are still battling higher costs everywhere else. It’s like being given a small umbrella in a downpour better than nothing, but hardly enough.
The result? Canadians are being forced to make impossible choices. Do you save for your child’s education or pay off your credit card? Do you put money toward a down payment or simply try to keep up with the rising cost of groceries?
Even Bury admits that while we can cut corners here and there like sharing memberships or shopping smarter the big-ticket items like mortgages and car payments are where the real financial strain lies. “There’s no avoiding some of the day-to-day costs,” she says. “When I look at my own grocery list, like diapers I have to get diapers, right?”
That’s the reality for millions of Canadians: no matter how carefully you budget, there are expenses you just can’t escape.
This isn’t just about economics it’s about quality of life. When people are too stretched to plan for the future, when saving for retirement or buying a home feels like an impossible dream, something in our system is broken.
Until wages rise meaningfully and the cost of essentials from housing to groceries stabilizes, Canadians will continue to trade long-term security for short-term survival.
And while the data paints a bleak picture, the truth is even starker: we’re not just delaying milestones we’re redefining what’s even possible.
