Why are Canadians less satisfied with their lives?

Life satisfaction among Canadians seems to be dropping over the past few years, according to a report from Statistics Canada (StatCan).

Less than half (48.6% per cent) of Canadians report that they have high levels of life satisfaction (8 or higher on the 0-to-10 scale, where 0 means “very dissatisfied” and 10 means “very satisfied”), in the first quarter of 2024.

That number is down from 50.6 per cent in the third quarter of 2023 and from 54 per cent in the third quarter of 2021.

This trend is true among several groups.

_{Source: Statistics Canada (StatCan)}

“In the past few years, Canadians have had to adapt to changing socioeconomic contexts,” says Helen Foran, analyst with the Centre for Social Data Insights and Innovation at Statistics Canada.

“The time-series approach demonstrates how some sociodemographic groups experienced more notable declines in life satisfaction and hopefulness than others, as well as increases in financial hardship. The data suggest a relationship between financial well-being and overall well-being.”

Rising prices affecting well-being

Overall, 45% of Canadians report that rising prices are greatly affecting their ability to meet day-to-day expenses, 12 percentage points higher than two years earlier (33%), according to a previous StatCan report.

Foran notes that while there has been a decline in life satisfaction among Canadians, the drop is bigger among some compared with others. For example, about one-third (32.6 per cent) of 2SLGBTQ+ individuals report high levels of life satisfaction. 

This compares to more than half (52.0 per cent) of individuals outside of this population. Life satisfaction among 2SLGBTQ+ individuals declined by 1.3 percentage points each year, meanwhile those who are not 2SLGBTQ+ experienced a 2.0 percentage point decline each year.

Financial matters have turned for the worse for many Canadians this year, according to a previous report.

Do Canadians have a high quality of life?

Canada has a greater share of people facing financial difficulties in 2024 (32.8 per cent) than in 2021 (18.6 per cent). 

In mid-2021, fewer than 1 in 5 Canadians (18.6 per cent) reported that it was difficult for their household to meet its financial needs in the previous 12 months. This proportion has doubled by Q4 of 2023, peaking at 37.4 per cent. The proportion has subsequently dropped to about one-third (32.8 per cent) at the beginning of 2024. 

“Overall, there was an annual 6.7-percentage-point increase in Canadians experiencing financial hardship between mid-2021 and the beginning of 2024,” says Foran.

Canadians who are financially insecure in 2024 are less likely to feel satisfied with their lives than they were in 2021. In particular, feelings of life satisfaction among Canadians who faced financial difficulties have seen levels drop at a rate of 2.1 percentage points per year from 2021 to 2024. 

In contrast, among Canadians who find it easy or very easy to meet their financial needs, there was an increase in high levels of life satisfaction at a rate of 0.8 percentage points per year during this period.

Canadians aged 25 to 54 are the most likely to experience financial hardship, where at the beginning of 2024, 40.0 per cent were finding it difficult to meet their financial needs. This was about 1.5 times higher than Canadians aged 15 to 24 (28.5 per cent) and adults aged 55 and older (25.5 per cent).

Amid the rising cost of living, Canadians are struggling to save up for retirement, according to a previous Sun Life report.