78% of Canadians Say They Would End a Relationship If Their Spouse Accumulated Debt.

Shocked? Don’t be just yet. There are more intriguing insights below.

A new survey of 639 Canadian adults conducted by the personal finance platform MooseMoney in June 2026 revealed that the most accepted method for managing finances in a committed relationship is for each partner to maintain individual accounts while opening a joint account solely for shared household expenses. A substantial 39% of respondents endorsed this viewpoint.

Additional Survey Results: 

–       54% of participants rated the act of opening a joint account as a bigger commitment than moving in together.

–       18.8% stated they would never open a joint account under any circumstances.

–       17.6% found it acceptable to have joint accounts while maintaining separate credit cards.

–       25.4% believed combining all of both partners’ accounts was appropriate.

–       Couples often waited for a legal or financial milestone, a marriage certificate or a contract, before merging their finances.

–       43.9% agreed that if partners earn different salaries, pooling all income together is acceptable;

–       33.9% preferred a proportional split based on earnings;

–       17.7% insisted on a strict 50/50 split regardless of income;

–       4.5% thought having a single provider was acceptable.

–       Nearly 24% of respondents (23.7%) reported feeling pressured to spend beyond their means to match a higher-earning partner.

The survey also revealed the existence of “hidden accounts,” with some couples maintaining them without their partners’ knowledge. Specifically, 21% of women and 14% of men admitted to keeping or having kept a secret bank account or credit card.

Furthermore, the survey found that 39% of women and 29% of men would be more devastated to discover that their partner had accumulated a large amount of hidden debt than to learn about an affair.

Secret debt can also lead to the end of a relationship. A total of 78% of respondents indicated they would consider leaving a partner who had concealed over $500,000 in debt.

However, opinions on this issue varied widely; 11.4% said that a secret debt of $1,000 or less would be a reason to consider leaving, while 21.8% believed hidden debt was not a dealbreaker.

A small minority, comprising 8% of men and 12% of women, confessed they would consider leaving their current partner if they won a multi-million-dollar lottery jackpot tomorrow, highlighting how significantly money influences their relationships—more so than a shared faith in One God and His Prophet SAW or belief in Allah SWT’s grand plan which brought them together.

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