International survey finds that hundreds of Canadians are at risk of financial blunder because of misrepresentations about bills, spending, and financial wellbeing
A survey of Australians, Americans, and Canadians conducted by Australian comparison service Compare the Market, found that Canadians lie about their finances at a far higher rate than their American and Australian counterparts.
34.4 per cent of Canadians said that they have lied about the state of their finances to the people closest to them, compared to 26.5 per cent of Americans, and 24.5 per cent of Australians. 30.5 per cent of Canadians admit to lying about the state of their spending habits, compared to 22.1 per cent of Americans, and 22.3 per cent of Australians. 14.4 per cent of Canadians say they have lied about the true cost of bills to the people they live with to their own financial benefit, while only 12.0 per cent of Americans and 8.9 per cent of Australians have done so.
Compare the Market believes this leaves hundreds of thousands of Canadians at risk of financial blunders. Those include spending more than necessary, missing out on market opportunities, or failing to meet regular bill payments.
Within Canada, women were far more likely to admit to lying about the state of their finances than men (39.9 per cent vs 29.8 per cent). Women were also more likely to have experienced being lied to about their finances than men.
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Ontario had the highest rate of financial dishonesty, while B.C. had the lowest. Alberta was found to be the province where residents were most frequently lied to about finances.
Financial dishonesty went up in Canada the younger the respondents were. More than half of Gen Z respondents admitted to either lying about the state of their finances or their spending habits. They were also eight times as likely as baby boomers to lie about the true cost of bills to people they live with to benefit themselves.
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“Put simply, a considerable portion of the population have fudged bill prices to make a profit off those that they live with,” a press release announcing the survey results reads.
Despite much higher rates of financial dishonesty, Canadians felt similarly confident about managing their household expenses compared to their Australian and American counterparts. 9.2 per cent of Canadians said they don’t feel confident managing their household expenses, the exact same rate as Australia. Americans are slightly more confident, with only 8.2 per cent saying they lack confidence managing household expenses.
