It’s a familiar refrain as we head into a new year.
Turning the page on the calendar is often the trigger many people use to renew their priorities for the coming year – resolutions around health and fitness or financial management.
The money objectives for this year sound an awful lot like the ones we heard last year and the year before that: paying down debt.
A survey by CIBC that asked people to identify their money-related goals for 2026 ranked paying off debt at the top of the list. It ranked first for one-in-six people. Not far behind is one centred on cash flow – just keeping up with day-to-day living expenses and bills so they don’t fall behind and build up even more debt.
The bank’s survey determined that 70-percent of Canadians feel confident about achieving their goals this year. That’s a fairly strong number but it is down from 76-percent a year ago as the percentage of people who think they can handle any economic challenges 2026 might throw their way has dropped from 60 to 55-percent.
