The finances of Canadians are mostly on the right track

 

The finances have Canadians are definitely on the right track as we look back at them on this Canada Day weekend. While some areas have improved, others have gotten worse. On the positive side, the net worth of Canadians has continued its rise, as have real estate gains and the Toronto Stock Exchange. The Canadian dollar is also increasing in value against the Euro and US Dollar. Canadians may have one of the lowest savings rates of OECD countries, but they still have less debt than most others, so this may account for the lessened need to save. Even the Canadian federal government is doing well, with continued surpluses while other countries, like the United States, have huge deficits. In fact, the Canadian government has continued to post budget surpluses of 1% since the 1990’s. One slightly negative thing is that the appreciation of the Canadian dollar has led to worsened stock market returns from the United States, but the Canadian economy or Canadian dollar cannot really be blamed for this. All in all, Canadians are doing better with their finances on average than those in many other nations, and Canadians all have something to be proud of this Canada Day weekend.