On the eve of Canada’s national holiday, BMO Harris Private Banking study has found that Canadians have tremendous pride in and optimism for the nation’s strong economic performance and financial outlook.
According to the study, the majority of Canadians (83%) were proud of Canada’s overall economic performance compared with the economies of the U.S., Europe and other parts of the world.
Three-quarters were optimistic about Canadian financial markets. However, more than 40% had a pessimistic view about what the future holds for global financial markets.
Half of Canadians anticipate that their current investments will grow in value over the next year.
Paul Taylor, chief investment officer, BMO Harris Private Banking, said, “While the rest of the world stands on shaky economic ground, Canada continues to demonstrate a strong financial position that instills investor confidence.
“While the country does face a variety of economic challenges, Canadians have much to celebrate this Canada Day.”
Canadians also felt confident about the performance of several domestic industry sectors, with 49% expecting the energy sector to grow in the coming years and 48% expecting the same from the information technology sector.
“As evidenced by recent world headlines, volatility will continue to characterize the financial markets for the foreseeable future,” said Taylor.
“Canada’s current market conditions should prompt investors to take a look at specific sectors for their strong yield and defensive total return characteristics. These include consumer staples, telecom, utilities and health care.”
Notwithstanding the positive sentiment, there remain some areas of concern among Canadians. According to the study, 72% were worried about how economic troubles in other parts of the world may impact Canada’s relative prosperity.
Respondents were concerned about:
- the possibility of the U.S. slipping into another recession (41% listed this as the number one threat);
- the sovereign debt crisis in the Eurozone (23%);
- slowing growth in China and India (8%); and
- tensions in the Middle East (7%).
