- More than half of Canadians anticipate a recession in the next
12 months; one-third believe Canada is already in a recession
- Vast majority of Canadians have experimented with AI - but many
remain uncomfortable with skilled workers like doctors, financial
advisors and lawyers using AI on their behalf
- Nearly half of working Canadians do not expect AI to have any
impact on their own jobs
- One-in-ten Canadians expect to sell their primary residence and
purchase a new one in the next 12 months
TORONTO, Sept. 27,
2023 /CNW/ - Concerns about the strength of
the Canadian economy continue to weigh on the minds of many
Canadians, with more than half (54%) anticipating the country will
slip into a recession in the coming year – and nearly a third (32%)
believing Canada is already in a
recession.
The findings come from Dye & Durham's newly launched
Canadian Pulse Report for Q3 2023, a survey of 1,001 Canadians
conducted amongst members of the online Angus Reid Forum looking at
trends in the economy, technology and the real estate market. The
Q3 Report looked at three key areas that impact all Canadian
citizens and businesses, including legal professionals –
familiarity and comfort with Artificial Intelligence tools,
business and personal spending trends and perceptions and plans
impacting the real estate market. The intent of the report is to
generate new data that can provide insight into current trends and
help professionals in the legal industry and others plan for the
coming months.
High interest rates having a
notable impact on Canadian financial wellbeing and spending
patterns
The new report reveals that only 25% of Canadians believe they
are in a better place financially than they were at this time last
year. Significantly more (39%) say they are in a worse place
financially than they were one year ago.
High interest rates have played a considerable role in this, as
a majority of Canadians say they've had to spend more on items like
groceries (76%), gas (65%) and auto (58%) and home (56%) insurance.
At the same time many report they've had to put less money towards
personal savings (53%), emergency savings (45%) and retirement/RRSP
savings (35%) and reduce charitable donations (45%) due to high
rates.
"It's clear that many Canadians have been feeling pinched by
this high interest rate environment and have seen their purchasing
power throttled over the past year," says Martha Vallance, Chief Operating Officer, Dye
& Durham. "This has had a downstream effect on everything from
housing and retail to legal services over the past 12 months.
However, as rates begin to hold – and eventually decline – we
expect to see a significant upswing in areas like real estate
transactions, business originations and others that should help
legal firms bounce back from a slower-than-normal year."
Canadians getting comfortable with
AI in their own hands – but not yet in the hands of service
providers
Artificial Intelligence is proving to be more than just a
buzzword as the vast majority (87%) of Canadians say that they've
experimented with using Generative AI tools (like ChatGPT and
others) for business or personal reasons (or both). However,
frequent usage is significantly lower – with less than one-in-ten
saying they use AI weekly for personal (8%), professional (7%) or
both personal and professional reasons (7%). While Canadians
are beginning to get familiar with AI themselves, nearly half (44%)
say they do not expect AI to have any impact on their own jobs
during their career.
There remains considerable concern about skilled providers
incorporating AI into the services they provide their customers.
Three-in-five (60%) Canadians say the idea of lawyers or notaries
using AI to support or conduct the services they provide to them
makes them uncomfortable - second only to doctors and medical
professionals (63%).
A better understanding of usage and benefits would significantly
increase comfort levels. More than a quarter (27%) say they would
be more comfortable if their lawyer/notary could guarantee using AI
would lead to a better outcome or better accuracy for their
service, and nearly as many say they'd be more comfortable if it
significantly reduced costs (26%) or was used to improve the
performance of the legal professional without replacing them
outright (25%). Having the ability to opt-in or opt-out of AI being
used in delivering their service (23%) and having the use of AI
clearly explained in advance (19%) would also significantly
increase comfort levels, according to those polled.
"It's clear that there is considerable interest in the potential
of AI amongst the average Canadian, but as with many new and
revolutionary technologies there remains concerns – founded or
otherwise - that can slow adoption and consumer benefit," says
David Nash, Chief Product Officer,
Dye & Durham. "Canadian legal professionals see the enormous
potential for AI to provide cost, efficiency and accuracy benefits
in their day-to-day roles. It will be critical in these early days
for legal professionals to educate their clients on how AI is both
being deployed in their firms and how it will be able to improve
the service their clients are receiving."
Many Canadians still sitting on
the sidelines of the real estate market, but brighter days appear
ahead
The Canadian real estate market has been significantly impacted
by higher interest rates over the past year, while prices have
remained elevated due to limited inventory. While a significant
part of the market continues to wait until purchase prices (24%)
and/or interest rates (23%) drop, 10% of Canadians polled say they
expect to sell their primary residence and purchase a new primary
residence in the next year – double the number that said they did
so in the past twelve months (5%). Nearly twice as many respondents
said they plan to buy their first owned home in the next year (8%
vs 4% in the past 12 months) or buy an investment/income property
or secondary/vacation property (8% vs 5%) compared to those that
did so in the past year.
About the Survey
Conducted quarterly, the Dye & Durham Canadian Pulse Report
is designed to uncover trends and insights into Canadian sentiment
surrounding three key areas: the economy, technology and the real
estate market. The findings of the report are the result of a
survey conducted by Dye & Durham from August 16-18, 2023 among a nationally
representative sample of n=1,001 Canadians who are members of the
online Angus Reid Forum, balanced and weighted on age, gender,
region and education. For comparison purposes only, a probability
sample of this size has an estimated margin of error of +/- 2.5
percentage points, 19 times out of 20. The survey was offered in
both English and French.
About Dye & Durham
Limited
Dye & Durham Limited provides premier practice management
solutions empowering legal professionals every day, delivers vital
data insights to support critical corporate transactions and
enables the essential payments infrastructure trusted by government
and financial institutions. The company has operations
in Canada, the United
Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and South Africa.
Additional information can be found at www.dyedurham.com.
SOURCE Dye & Durham Limited