Canadian families are reacting to financial uncertainty in the checkout line, according to Ipsos, with a recent poll showing that close to half are planning to cut back on food and everyday essentials over the the next 12 to 24 months.

The insight firm’s survey of 1,000 Canadian adults (54% of whom were parents) from Jan. 23 to 24 shows that 45% of families in Canada are cutting back on spending in such areas, while 43% are taking on additional work and 33% are reducing their spend on children’s activities.

Twenty-seven per cent of respondents said they are at risk of falling behind on bills or other payments, a quarter said they are relying more heavily on credit for everyday purchases and 6% said they are delaying having children amid increased costs of living.

Diane Ridgway-Cross, associate partner at Ipsos’s Strategy3, said the results “are not discretionary tradeoffs, they are foundational choices about stability, wellbeing and the ability to plan ahead” and represent the “backdrop against which family life is evaluated and managed.” Additionally, the data reveals that 84% of families agree that raising a family in Canada increasingly requires a level of financial security they do not have. Perceptions of what constitutes a family itself are also changing, with 44% of respondents saying that the idea of a “typical” family will feel “outdated” in a decade.

Ipsos also found that families are turning to artificial intelligence to assist with parenting duties, despite continued skepticism of the technology. The survey showed that 62% of Canadian parents have used AI tools for parenting-related needs, with the three most popular prompts centring on ideas for meals or outings (35%), helping with homework or school projects (30%) and advice on health, development or behaviour (28%).

Still, only 38% of the population overall said they believe AI is having a positive impact on the world, compared with 58% globally, placing Canada among the most AI-pessimistic countries worldwide.

“AI becomes part of the invisible work of holding family life together, not because parents believe it is better than human care, but because it is there when human care is not,” the report said.