The Conference Board of Canada says Canadian consumers are feeling better about the economy and can see a light at the end of the recession tunnel.

The board says its index of consumer confidence rose 13.8 percentage points in January to a 23-month high of 96.6 points, using confidence in 2002 as the 100-point baseline.

The Western provinces led the increase in the confidence index, with British Columbia recording its largest-ever monthly gain. The index for Ontario hit double where it was in December 2008.

But a similar Royal Bank survey says Canadians are still worried about debt and their jobs in the wake of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

The RBC survey found that more than half of respondents described the economy as bad in January than those who though it was in good shape.

The survey suggests that 58% of Canadians were concerned about their current level of debt and 26% said a member of their household is worried about losing their job or being laid off, up from 21% in December.