Ipsos puts the goal-readiness gap at 28 points between advised and unadvised households
Seventy-seven percent of Canadians who consult a financial professional said they enjoy life because of the way they manage their money, against 52 percent of those who do not.
On feeling prepared and on track to meet financial goals, the split ran 76 percent to 48 percent.
Ipsos, which conducted the 2026 IG Wealth Management Financial Confidence Index for IG Wealth Management, found 47 percent of respondents use or consult financial professionals for investments or financial advice.
The national index held at 52, unchanged from 2025.
Trust in the economy was the only pillar to move significantly, rising to 42 from 39.
Current finances held at 54, planning and literacy at 57, and financial outlook slipped to 54 from 55.
Ipsos introduced a segmentation model in 2026, grouping respondents by financial outlook, income, and assets.
“Thriving” Canadians, affluent and optimistic, account for 46 percent; “upward mobile,” non-affluent and optimistic, 21 percent; “strained,” non-affluent and worried, 15 percent; and “anxious affluents,” affluent and worried, 11 percent.
Thriving Canadians are more likely to be older, homeowners and married or partnered, and show stronger engagement with professional advice.
Anxious affluents skew toward ages 35 to 54 and are more likely than any other segment to view traditional financial advice as lagging behind current market realities.
Strained Canadians are more likely to rent, be single and show weaker engagement with advisors.
Thirty-four percent of all respondents agreed that traditional financial advice is not keeping up with current market realities.
Households earning under $40,000 scored 45 on the index against 58 for households at $100,000 or more.
New Canadians, defined by Ipsos as those who arrived within the last three years, scored 68, up 12 points from 56.
Forty-seven percent said their expenses rose faster than their income over the past year.
Asked how they would cover an unexpected $2,000 expense, with up to two answers permitted, 46 percent selected cash or savings, 29 percent a credit card and 11 percent a line of credit, while 16 percent said they could not cover it.
Ipsos reported that 50 percent do not have a $2,000 emergency fund.
Fifty-five percent said they could maintain their standard of living for six months or less if their household lost its primary income, including 20 percent at less than one month.
Among households earning $100,000 or more, that figure was 53 percent.
Rising food prices ranked as the top concern for a third consecutive year, at 33 percent.
Higher cost of living was named by 62 percent as the biggest influence on their confidence over the past year, ahead of housing costs at 29 percent and interest rates at 21 percent.
Damon Murchison, president and CEO of IGM Financial and IG Wealth Management, said in the company’s release that the national confidence score “only tells part of the story.”
Murchison said overall confidence has held relatively stable over the last year while affordability challenges “continue to hold some Canadians back.”
Fifty-seven percent agreed that with the rise of AI, human financial advice is becoming more important than ever, and 53 percent that professional advice is more important now than ever.
Thirty-three percent said they were concerned AI could negatively affect their job, career or income over the next five years, while 68 percent said it had not yet affected them.
