73% of Canadians say ‘many’ stay in relationships for finances: survey

marriage or in common law relationships for financial reasons.”In addition, 80 per cent of Canadians say life is more affordable in a relationship versus being single.Nearly one in four (23 per cent) of surveyed Canadians also said they like the idea of a “five-year renewable relationship contract” instead of getting married.The survey states that four in 10 Canadians (40 per cent) say marriage is “mainly about practicalities for those planning or already have children.”This view is higher among Canadians who identify as male (at 45 per cent) versus female (36 per cent).In addition, 83 per cent believe that couples often stay together for the sake of their children.Clay Jarvis, a financial expert at NerdWallet Canada, said marriage is a “major financial decision” that should encourage couples to evaluate their financial situations.“I think if the conversation is about determining whether to have kids because you can afford them now, I think that’s because your reality now is what you’re basing all of your decisions on,” he said.

“You don’t know where your career is going to be, if you’re going to have your job two, three, five years from now.“To think, ‘Well I’m going to need to be spending thousands of dollars on diapers over the next few years or baby food or we need to get a bigger house, or we needed to buy a car,’ all of those things add up.”A September 2025 Statistics Canada study reported that Canada’s total fertility rate was 1.25 children per woman in 2024, a record low.The survey also found that over a quarter of Canadians (27 per cent) say, “if they won the lottery and had a partner, they’d likely split up with their partner.”More than half of Canadians (57 per cent) were found to believe married or common law