Survey: 78% of Canadians Would Consider Ending Their Relationship Over Secret Debt

MooseMoney survey reveals financial betrayals carry heavy weight, with 39% of women stating a large secret debt is more devastating than infidelity.

Personal finance platform MooseMoney has released a new survey showing how rampant financial unfaithfulness is among Canadian couples. The survey indeed reveals that 21% of women and 14% of men have had a secret bank account or credit card their partner did not know about.

When asked if they would be more devastated by infidelity or a partner accumulating a large secret debt, 39% of women and 29% of men chose the debt. And a full 78% of respondents would consider ending their relationship if they discovered their partner had accumulated a secret debt of over $500,000. “These findings show that financial transparency is just as critical to a relationship as physical faithfulness,” says Julien Brault, founder of MooseMoney.

Despite the fact Canadians expect financial transparency from their romantic partners, when it comes to organizing finances, independence remains highly popular. The most common approach (38.2%) is keeping individual accounts while contributing to a joint one solely for shared household bills. And nearly one in five (18%) say they would never open a joint bank account.

This non-probabilistic survey was conducted by MooseMoney from June 12 to 26, 2026, and gathered responses from 639 Canadians aged 18 and over.

For more information, consult the full survey results on MooseMoney: https://www.moosemoney.com/canadian-couples-money-survey

About MooseMoney 

MooseMoney is a Canadian personal finance platform helping Canadians facing financial challenges make better decisions about debt, credit, and budgeting.

Source : MooseMoney