Three in Five Gen Z Canadians Worried About Jobs as AI Fears Grow

Three in five Gen Z Canadians are worried about job mobility and career opportunities in the current labour market, according to a new survey released October 5, 2026 by MNP and Ipsos. The national MNP Consumer Debt Index, which surveyed 2,001 Canadians between September 1 and 8, puts the concern at 60% among working Gen Z Canadians and 59% among Millennials, compared with just 26% of Boomers. Artificial intelligence, tariffs and thin savings are combining into a generation-defining squeeze on young Canadian workers.

Overall, more than half of working Canadians (55%) say they are worried about job mobility, according to the survey. More than four in 10 Canadians (42%) worry that artificial intelligence could negatively affect their employment or income, while more than half (54%) say they do not have enough savings to support themselves or their family for six months if they lose their job without borrowing or falling behind on bills. With Gen Z Canadians again the most concerned group, the findings paint a picture of a workforce that feels it cannot afford a career misstep.

Gen Z Canadians Feel the AI Pressure First

AI is the sharpest edge of the anxiety. Nearly a quarter of Canadians (23%) cite concerns about the potential impact of AI on their careers, rising to more than a quarter (27%) for working Canadians. One in seven (14%) say they worry AI will make some of their skills less valuable, increasing to nearly one in five (17%) for working Canadians. As reported by Ipsos in its October 5, 2026 write-up of the findings, young workers are feeling the shift most acutely: three in five Gen Z Canadians and nearly three in five Millennials are worried about job mobility, far above the quarter of Boomers who say the same.

Regional snapshots add colour. In Atlantic Canada, nearly half of residents (47%) worry AI could negatively affect their employment or income, the highest proportion of any province, according to MNP's regional release. In Quebec, the figure sits at 36%. On the policy front, Ottawa is responding: a federal AI council is pushing Canada to build its own AI future, though the jobs anxiety in this survey suggests workers want reassurance faster than policy can move.

Gen Z Canadians Lead the Second-Income Economy

Alongside the worry comes the hustle. Nearly half of Canadians (47%) say they have tried to earn additional income in some way, reflecting what the survey calls a broader "second-income economy". The most common approach is selling goods online (21%), using platforms such as Facebook Marketplace, eBay or Etsy, while one in 10 (11%) have learned new skills to improve future job prospects. About one in 10 have worked a second job (9%) or monetized a hobby, skill or passion project (9%), while eight percent have taken on freelance or contract work.

Gen Z Canadians are leading these efforts to supplement their income and strengthen their finances. More than one in five Gen Z Canadians (22%) have learned new skills to enhance their career opportunities, 16% are working a second job, 14% have monetized a hobby or passion project, 10% operate a side business and 9% are using AI tools to generate income, according to the survey. One-third of Millennials (34%) have sold goods online, compared with one in five Canadians overall. The generation most worried about AI taking jobs is also the one most likely to use AI tools to make money.

Too Nervous to Quit, Too Broke to Risk It

The anxiety is also freezing career moves. One-quarter (25%) of Canadian workers say they are reluctant to leave their current job because of uncertainty in the job market, one in five (19%) feel less secure in their job than they did a year ago, and one in five (20%) would like to change jobs but do not feel financially secure enough to risk a period of lower or no income. One-third (32%) worry they would struggle to find a new job offering similar pay and benefits. Ontario stands out as a pressure point: 21% of working residents there feel less secure than a year ago, the highest share of any province.

The savings cushion behind that caution is thin. More than two in five Canadians (44%) report they are within two hundred dollars of being unable to meet their monthly financial obligations. The national MNP Consumer Debt Index has risen four points to 95, though confidence remains below historical levels, according to the October 5, 2026 release published on GlobeNewswire. More than one-third (36%) are not confident they could cope with losing their job without increasing their debt.

What This Means for Young Workers

The message for Gen Z Canadians is blunt: debt plus income uncertainty is a risky mix. "When Canadians are not confident they could replace their income if their job situation changed, carrying debt can feel much more precarious," said Grant Bazian, president of MNP LTD, in the announcement. Bazian drew a line between productive hustle and a debt treadmill, noting the difference between "earning extra money to get ahead" and "depending on it to keep up".

The counterweight is that conditions are not uniformly bleak. The index improved by four points from the previous quarter, the Bank of Canada's policy rate sits at 2.25%, and six in 10 Canadians say they desperately want rates to fall further. Still, four in 10 say they would struggle to repay their debt even if rates decline, a sign that the challenge runs deeper than borrowing costs. And the cost-of-living pressure is real: a new Canadian fund aims to shrink grocery bills, another front in the same affordability fight.

For Gen Z Canadians weighing a career move, the survey's practical takeaway is to stress-test the budget before the job hunt. Knowing what is owed, what debt costs each month and how the household budget would hold up if income changed can help identify financial pressure early, according to the release. For more on how money pressures are hitting young people in Canada, visit the Canadian News topic page.