A new RBC analysis of Canada's economic recovery may help explain why many Canadians remain grumpy about their finances even as inflation and interest rates fall.
The analysis shows the recovery has been uneven, with wealthier Canadians benefiting the most from wage growth and earning higher returns on their savings from higher interest rates.
On the flip side low- and middle-income Canadians are devoting more of their pay to essentials like food and shelter than they were before the pandemic.
Christopher Ragan, an associate professor of economics at McGill University, says given those divergent realities it's not surprising that Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's more pessimistic message about the economy has resonated with Canadians over the optimism the Liberals have been trying to project.
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland has spent much of the last year stressing economic improvements such as inflation falling to 1.6 per cent and wage growth outpacing price growth for almost two years now.
But David Coletto, CEO of polling firm Abacus Data, says so far Canadians don't seem to feel any better about the state of the country or about the Liberal government.