Struggling Canadians are far more likely to lie about their debt and avoid seeking professional help until it's too late
For many Canadians, talking about money remains more uncomfortable than discussing their most intimate personal lives and the financial consequences of that silence are mounting.
A survey conducted by MooseMoney found that the national split between what people would rather discuss with friends was almost perfectly even: 50.1% chose their credit score, while 49.9% chose their sex life.
But that near-tie obscures a meaningful gender gap. A slim majority of men (51%) said they were more willing to open up about their sex lives than their credit scores. Women tilted in the opposite direction, with 53% saying they would sooner discuss their credit score.
Financial strain, however, is a stronger dividing line than gender.
Among Canadians who described their financial situation as comfortable, 79% said they would rather discuss their credit score with friends than their sex life. Among those who described themselves as struggling, that figure inverted sharply: 61% said they would sooner talk about their sex life.
The data suggests that financial shame tracks closely with financial hardship; the people with the most to gain from open conversations about money are the least willing to have them.
If they could no longer cover basic living expenses, 42% of respondents said they would delay seeking professional help until the situation felt out of control. Another 31% said they would try to handle the debt on their own indefinitely rather than ever seek outside assistance, and 15% said they would wait until facing legal action. Only 9% said they would reach out for help after missing a single payment.
Just 53.7% of respondents correctly identified Licensed Insolvency Trustees as the appropriate professionals for a bankruptcy filing. A third said they didn't know who to contact, while 6% said they would call the Canada Revenue Agency and 5% said they would contact a lawyer.
The survey found that nearly one in three Canadians admitted to lying or intentionally misleading someone about their annual salary, more than a quarter have misrepresented their credit card debt, and 23% have given false information about their credit score. Struggling Canadians were significantly more likely to fabricate across every category.
