Less than a quarter of Canadians are saving more than they did before the current volatile economic environment, according to a new poll released today by the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC).

According to the poll, 22% of Canadians are saving more while 43% of respondents are maintaining their current spending habits and 20% are spending more than they did before the current economic downturn.

“One need only look at the newspapers or television to see that North America is in an economic downturn,” said Ashif Ratanshi, senior vice-president at RBC Branch Investments and Banking. “This is the time for Canadians to re-assess their own finances and ensure they are effectively managing their money so that they can withstand any sudden pitfalls or changes in their lives.”

According to RBC, one of the poll’s key findings was that on average most Canadians do not believe they are good savers. In fact, 83% are worried they don’t have enough money saved and 86% feel they can’t save as much as they would like.

Less than one half of respondents said they have a savings account set up for an emergency. Of those that do have such a “rainy day account,” 55% have only enough saved to cover one-month’s worth of expenses, while 24% have three-month’s worth of expenses covered.

Many Canadians are also not prepared to cope with an unexpected long-term emergency or sudden life-changing event. A full 65% of respondents consider their line of credit and credit cards to be their backup funds in case of an emergency, while 60% of the more than one million Canadians who keep $1,000 or more in their bank account each month, consider that money to be their safety net.

The poll showed that Canadians rank saving for retirement, paying down debt, paying down one’s mortgage faster and saving for children’s education ahead of saving for an emergency.

When it comes to spending their regular paychecks, 63% of those surveyed said they allocate some towards household bills, rent/mortgage and other regular monthly purchases and the rest goes to savings, while 34% spend it all on living expenses and only 3% are able to put their entire salary into savings.

“In looking at the results from the poll, it is clear that many Canadians need to make a plan or budget to help them achieve their financial priorities,” said Mr. Ratanshi. “Small changes such as finding the right bank account, paying off debt quickly or arranging for monthly withdrawals into a GIC or other investment can help Canadians optimize their savings.”

The poll of 2,020 adult Canadian bank account holders was conducted for RBC by Ipsos Reid between March 13 and March 18, 2008.