CityNews poll: 86 per cent of Metro Vancouver residents feel cost-of-living squeeze

With the federal budget to be dropped on Tuesday, and Prime Minister Carney warning Canadians that sacrifices will need to be made, many around the Lower Mainland feel they’ve already sacrificed more than enough.

A new poll conducted by Canada Pulse Insights for CityNews found that an overwhelming majority – 86 per cent – of Metro Vancouver residents say it’s too costly to live and work in the region, with the biggest stressor being groceries.

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“I feel like every time you come to the grocery store, it’s more expensive. Like coffee? A bag of coffee is like $30,” one Metro Vancouver grocery shopper told CityNews.

“I now do meal prep with my partner; I never did meal prep before,” said another Metro Vancouver resident.

“Feeling it from all sorts of different directions, with rent, and just being able to survive in the city.”

Rent is right on groceries’ heels as the biggest pinch point for local wallets, which comes as no surprise given that Metro Vancouver has one of the most expensive housing markets on the continent.

The tight housing supply that helps push those figures higher is one of the major issues Carney has promised will be addressed in the new budget.

“We will build at a pace that hasn’t been seen since the Second World War,” Carney said earlier this year.

But it could take some time for the average Canadian to feel the relief.

“The kinds of plans being discussed here, in many ways, do not have their full impact for five years, or perhaps even a decade or more,” UBC political scientist Stewart Prest explained to CityNews.

Affordability needs to be the budget’s focus

Prest says that affordability needs to be a focus of this budget if the Carney government wants to get it passed at all.

“If it brings up the cost of living, we will vote no,” said Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilevre.

“So a lot of this is really going to boil down to: can the Liberals find a way to build a bridge with at least one party of the opposition to support this budget by offering the kinds of supports that that party can then turn around to their supporters and say ‘Look, we have achieved this for you, this is why you need us in Parliament,’” Prest explained the situation on Parliament Hill.

Those kinds of politically necessary supports could include targeted tax breaks for lower-income Canadians – but given Carney’s rhetoric, the magnitude likely won’t be groundbreaking.

“With this messaging around an austerity budget, or something more like that coming from Mr. Carney, there may be relatively little in the way of new relief specifically for Canadians,” Prest added.

Only time will tell – but what seems clear is that the word ‘budget’ won’t be coming off the minds of everyday Canadians anytime soon.