Winnipeg – As financial institutions compete throughout the province for Manitobans’ loyalty, credit unions appear to be doing a better job than banks of keeping their clients happy, a new Jory Capital-Probe Research Inc. survey of 1,001 Manitobans reveals. This survey also indicates that credit unions would win over a disproportionate number of “Big Five” bank customers if these individuals were to relocate their banking business.

Most Manitobans are satisfied with their financial institutions, although a larger proportion of credit union customers are very satisfied with their financial institution compared to those who deal with banks (74%, versus 64% respectively). Bank customers were more likely than credit union clients to express only muted levels of satisfaction with their financial institution (31% somewhat satisfied, versus 23% respectively). Very small numbers of Manitobans were dissatisfied with their financial institution (4%, including just 1% who were very dissatisfied).

Overall, a larger proportion of Manitobans would prefer to move to a credit union (45%, versus 37% who would take their account to a bank). Current credit union clients would be nearly three times as likely to open an account at a competing credit union rather than take their business to a bank (60%, versus 23% respectively) while bank clients are only slightly less likely to seek out a credit union rather than go to another bank (38%, versus 47% respectively).

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Labels: banks, credit unions, Jory Capital, Probe Research

Winnipeg – Forget purchasing the opulent dream home or the luxury cruise around the world – most Manitobans who have thought about what they would do if they won the lottery jackpot say they would opt for the sensible rather than the sensational.

A Jory Capital-Probe Research Inc. survey of 1,001 Manitoba adults reveals that the No. 1 thing that Manitobans would do if they won a $5 million lottery jackpot would be to ensure their loved ones were financially secure (94%, versus 6% who felt they would be unlikely to do this). More than eight-in-ten Manitobans indicated they would invest at least half of their winnings (85%). Further back, only slightly more than one-half of Manitobans would definitely or probably build or buy a dream home (57%), travel the world in style (57%) or bankroll significant renovations to their home (54%). About four-in-ten said they would use their windfall to purchase a summer cottage (41%), a luxury vehicle (40%) or a home in a warmer climate (38%). A slightly smaller proportion, meanwhile, would opt to give half of their jackpot to charity (37%).

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Labels: Jory Capital, lottery, manitoba, Probe Research

Winnipeg – Manitobans are typically quite confident about the economic prospects of their own communities, but they are also quite bullish about the country’s economic future, a Jory Capital-sponsored survey of 1,002 Manitobans conducted exclusively for the Winnipeg Free Press by Probe Research Inc. finds.

In addition to asking Manitobans to express the level of confidence they have in the economic outlook of their home communities, for the first time Probe Research asked Manitobans to assess Canada’s economic future. Fully eight-in-ten Manitobans (80%) have a positive outlook about Canada’s prospects, with 27 percent of those surveyed being very optimistic about the country’s economic future. Only fifteen percent of those surveyed take a negative view of the national economy (including 4% who are very pessimistic), while four percent were undecided.

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Labels: economic confidence, Jory Capital, Manitoba economy, Probe Research

Winnipeg – Residents of Winnipeg want their next city council use municipal tax dollars to lure corporate head offices to Manitoba and stimulate local manufacturing, while “bricks-and-mortar” investments such as refurbishing downtown buildings and expanding the Winnipeg Convention Centre fall further down citizens’ list of priorities.

A Jory Capital-Probe Research Inc. survey of 600 Winnipeg adults conducted exclusively for the Winnipeg Free Press reveals that one-half of the city’s adult citizens believes investing tax dollars to encourage companies to relocate their head offices to Manitoba’s capital city should be a “top” or “high” priority for the next council (50%, including 14% who say this is a “top priority” for the next council).

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Labels: 2010 municipal election, City of Winnipeg, Jory Capital, Probe Research, Winnipeg issues

Winnipeg – As the European Union wrestles with a crisis of economic confidence brought on by large debts sustained by several of its member states, nearly one-half of adult Manitobans (42%) think the debt crisis battering Greece and other heavily-indebted European countries could spread to Canada, according to a new Jory Capital-Probe Research Inc. poll conducted for the Winnipeg Free Press.

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Labels: European debt crisis, Greece, Jory Capital, Probe Research

Winnipeg – Most Manitoba homeowners say that they would face financial distress coping with higher mortgage payments, a new Jory Capital-Probe Research Inc. poll conducted for the Winnipeg Free Press finds.

As the Bank of Canada considers further increases to its key interest rate, Manitobans were asked to consider the financial impact of a sudden escalation of their monthly mortgage payment by 15 percent – which could be triggered by as little as a 1.5 percentage point increase in a financial institution’s annual fixed interest rate.

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Labels: interest rates, Jory Capital, Manitoba economy, mortgages, Probe Research

Winnipeg – After a year of bank bailouts and financial catastrophe throughout the world, financial institutions may not inspire the level of confidence they once did. Here in Manitoba, however, most residents express continued faith in banks and credit unions despite the financial troubles that have challenged financial institutions elsewhere

A Winnipeg Free Press/Jory Capital survey of 1,000 Manitobans conducted by Probe Research finds that more than two-thirds of the province’s adults (68%) have the same level of confidence in banks as they did one year ago, with a similar proportion (66%) noting that their confidence in credit unions has remained unchanged during the past 12 months.

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Labels: banks, credit unions, economic confidence, Jory Capital, Probe Research

Winnipeg – There should be more Santas and fewer Scrooges in Manitoba this holiday season, as a new Probe Research Inc. poll conducted for Jory Capital and the Winnipeg Free Press finds that fewer Manitobans plan to reduce their spending on gifts this holiday season.

With just two weeks to go until Christmas, just three in ten Manitobans (29%) say they plan to spend less money on gifts and entertainment this holiday season. This represents a seven percentage point drop since last December, when 36 percent of Manitobans said they would cut back on their holiday spending.

The percentage of Manitobans who plan to spend more money this year remains unchanged from one year ago (11%), while the proportion of Manitobans who plan to shell out the same amount they spent last Christmas has increased slightly (from 53% in December 2008 to 58%).

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Labels: holiday spending, Jory Capital, Manitoba economy

Winnipeg – A majority of Manitobans (56%) now say they would support an NHL
team returning to Winnipeg, according to a new Jory Capital-Probe Research
Inc. poll of 1,000 Manitoba adults conducted for the Winnipeg Free Press.

The poll shows that public support for a National Hockey League franchise
returning to Winnipeg has intensified since a similar sounding was taken in June
2007, at which time 47 percent of Manitobans yearned for the return of the NHL
to the provincial capital. Opposition to the NHL’s return, meanwhile, has
decreased slightly, with just one in three adults (34%) now opposing a potential
NHL team in their province compared to 41 percent who felt this way two years
ago.

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Labels: Jory Capital, Probe Research, Winnipeg NHL franchise

Winnipeg – Expect the lines at your local hardware store to stretch a little longer
this year as Manitobans stock up on building materials in order to claim the
federal government’s new home renovation tax credit.

A Jory Capital-Probe Research poll provided to the Winnipeg Free Press finds
that almost one-half of Manitoba households (51%) plan to take advantage of
the new Home Renovation Tax Credit this coming year. When asked whether
they plan to access this tax incentive, three in ten Manitobans (29%) said they
were very likely to renovate their homes, with another one in five citizens saying
they were somewhat likely (22%) to take advantage of the federal tax credit.
Three percent of citizens, meanwhile, said they have already completed home
repairs and applied or received this subsidy.

On the other hand, nearly four in ten adults (37%) said they would not be
induced by this tax credit to conduct renovations, with 26 percent stating they
were very unlikely and 11 percent noting they were somewhat unlikely to
perform this work. Fewer than one in ten adults (7%) said they are not eligible for
the tax credit because they are unable to do home repairs where they live, while
the remaining two percent of respondents were uncertain as to whether they
would conduct renovations to their homes and apply for this credit.

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Labels: home renovation tax credit, Jory Capital, Probe Research

Winnipeg, Manitoba – An overwhelming majority of Manitobans expect it will be at least another year before the Canadian economy will recover from recession. These results emerged from a survey of 1,000 Manitoba adults, conducted in mid- to late March by Probe Research Inc. The survey was sponsored by Jory Capital Inc. and released exclusively to the Winnipeg Free Press.

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Labels: Jory Capital, Manitoba economy, Probe Research, recession