The finances of a relationship

Gen Z respondents showed the strongest feelings around finances in relationships, with 65% saying their partner's net worth is important to them when starting a relationship, compared to the national average of 57%.

That being said, all Canadians surveyed expressed strong concerns about finances in their relationships, specifically:

  • 71% would consider breaking up with a partner if they discovered they were being dishonest about their finances
  • 65% would consider a breakup if their partner never offered to pay for anything
  • 56% may break up over a partner's bad spending habits

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Having the money talk

Despite seven in 10 Canadians surveyed agreeing that financial transparency and responsibility were important factors in a relationship, 41% of couples say they only had the "money talk" with their partner after they had moved in together, or around when they got married or became common-law.

For nearly a quarter (23%) of Canadian couples, the money talk didn't happen until after moving in together.

That delayed money talk appears to be impacting budgeting habits, with almost half (48%) of Canadians admitting they don't set a monthly budget with their partner. In fact, of couples that do, 46% say their partner only sticks to that budget some of the time or not at all.

"With 43% of Canadians citing a partner's debt load as an important factor in a relationship, it underscores that a key component of financial health as a couple is making sure you agree on your financial goals so it's wise to have that conversation early to ensure you're both on the same page," said Ewing.

Survey methodology

This Maru Public Opinion survey conducted on behalf of TD Bank Group consisted of surveying 1,534 randomly selected Canadian adults who are Maru Voice Canada online panelists on January 21. The results of this study have been weighted by education, age, gender and region (and in Quebec, language) to match the population, according to Census data.

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Nicholas completed his master's in journalism and communications at Western University. Since then, he's worked as a reporter at the Financial Post, Healthing.ca, Sustainable Biz Canada and more. Aside from reporting, he also has experience in web production, social media management, photography and video production. His work can also be found in the Toronto Star, Yahoo Finance Canada, Electric Autonomy Canada and Exclaim among others.

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