Financial Resilience Data
FP Canada Report Reveals Financial Planning Strengthens Canadian Households' Financial Resilience
Nearly three-quarters of Canadians — 74% — are financially vulnerable, even as new research shows a clear path to improvement. Montreal Gazette A joint report from the Financial Resilience Institute and FP Canada, released June 29, 2026, finds that Canadians who work with a financial planner score 13.3 points higher on a national resilience index than those who don't.
Canada's national mean financial resilience score sits at 53.34 out of 100, placing the country in the "Approaching Resilience" category. Edmonton Sun The report, titled *Financial Planning: A Catalyst to Improved Financial Resilience and Financial Well Being*, is designed to push policy makers to expand access to financial planning for low- and middle-income households.
A 13-Point Gap Separates Planners from Non-Planners
Canadians who work with a financial planner score 62.5 on the Financial Health and Resilience Index. Those without a planner score just 49.2. Recorder That 13.3-point gap holds across all income levels — not just wealthy households. Even low-income families who engage in financial planning see "statistically significant" improvements, the report found.
Eloise Duncan, founder and CEO of the Financial Resilience Institute, said the findings offer "clear, independent, and data-driven evidence that financial planning has a measurable and meaningful impact" — including for moderate and low-income Canadians. The research used behavioral markers like budgeting habits and emotional markers like financial stress levels, going beyond simple debt or income ratios.
Middle-Income Families and Single Parents Hit Hardest
The 74% vulnerability rate is not just a low-income problem. Goderich Signal Star Middle-income working families without children and single parents are among the groups most at risk of sliding backward on the index. Some 23% of Canadian households have less than three weeks of savings set aside for emergencies.
The cost of living is making things worse. Fort Saskatchewan Record Eighty-two percent of Canadians say the cost of living has grown faster than their income over the past year. Liquid savings buffers have also shrunk: only 50.7% of households now maintain a three-month emergency fund, down from 63.5% in 2017.
Policy Push: A Tax Credit for Financial Advice
FP Canada, the national body for financial planners, helped commission the research partly to support a policy goal: a refundable tax credit for financial planning advice. PR Record Gazette The idea targets the "missing middle" — Canadians who earn too much to qualify for free services but too little to comfortably pay for a planner out of pocket.
Canada has 17,458 certified financial planners, the fourth-largest such community in the world. Prosper Canada, a non-profit focused on poverty reduction, has joined the effort — framing financial planning as a "social utility" rather than a luxury. The report was shared with partner groups on June 26, three days before its public release.
Critics Say Planning Alone Won't Fix Structural Problems
Not everyone agrees that individual planning is the full answer. Some analysts argue the 74% vulnerability rate points to deeper problems — income volatility affects 17% of Canadians, and 39% report job insecurity. A financial plan, critics say, cannot fix those conditions on its own.
There is also an access problem. Those who need advice most are often least able to pay for it. Resilience peaked at 31.1% of the population in June 2021, driven by pandemic-era government supports and forced savings — not financial planning. Since those supports ended, the numbers have steadily declined. The new report aims to make the case that sustainable resilience requires both better policy and broader access to professional advice.
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