Feeling anxious about the stock market? Most Canadians are, and it could be costing them money without them realizing it

Sharp swings in the stock market are hard on any investor, and they have a way of overriding even the soundest financial plan. When headlines turn scary, calm turns into panic, and “buy low, sell high” gets flipped on its head.

A survey by MarketWise found that retail investors who made an emotional trading decision lost an average of US$1,606 (C$2,237) — a costly reminder that fear and FOMO (fear of missing out) can derail even experienced investors. New Canadian polling suggests the problem is just as common north of the border, even with markets near record highs.

Most Canadians say they feel anxious about investing

According to a 2025 poll commissioned by CIBC Investor’s Edge, 69% of Canadians say they feel anxious about market fluctuations, and one in three (34%) call anxiety the emotion they most associate with investing. That uneasiness persists even during a strong market run, which suggests rising portfolios don’t necessarily calm investors’ nerves.

Women and Gen Z feel it most: 77% of women and 79% of Gen Z say they’re anxious about investing, compared with 60% of men and 64% of boomers.

Investors are increasingly “going with their gut” in complex modern markets, said Luka Marjanovic, managing director and head of CIBC Investor’s Edge, adding that relying on instinct alone can make it difficult to invest with confidence.

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Why it’s so hard to spot your own FOMO — especially for younger Canadians

FOMO is easy to recognize in daily life, like scrolling past vacation photos from a trip you weren’t invited to. It’s much harder to catch in your own portfolio.

The CIBC poll also found that 69% of Canadians say their personality plays a role in how they invest, rising to 75% among Gen Z and 76% among millennials. Yet that self-awareness doesn’t always translate into confidence. Only 55% of Canadians between the ages of 18 and 34 feel confident investing, compared with 64% of those over 55. Nearly half (45%) of Gen Z and millennial investors admit they rely more on instinct than data and analysis when deciding what to buy or sell.

“Younger investors are bringing their values, intuition and emotions into investing more than ever,” said Liz Enriquez, a financial educator and founder of Ambitious Adulting, a personal finance mentoring website for millennials. She added that the real challenge lies in turning that self-awareness into genuine investing confidence.

The Canada-specific cost of an emotional trade

There's a wrinkle for Canadian investors that doesn't exist south of the border. Sell in a panic within a non-registered account, and the resulting capital loss can offset an equal-dollar capital gain elsewhere, since both are reduced to 50% of their value under the current capital gains inclusion rate before being netted against each other. However, if you're similarly panic selling inside a tax-free savings account (TFSA) or a registered retirement savings plan (RRSP), the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) won't let the loss be claimed at all.

In other words, the tax shelter that protects your gains offers none for your mistakes. An emotional trade made inside a registered account can end up costing more, dollar for dollar, than the identical trade made in a taxable one.

How to keep emotions out of your next investing decision

• Add friction — wait 24 hours before acting on a market headline or a hot tip
• Know your style — a bold investor and a cautious investor need different strategies, so build yours around who you actually are
• Start small — test new ideas with C$50 or C$100 monthly contributions before committing more
• Limit the noise — step back from investing influencers, group chats and daily portfolio checks
• Match risk to time horizon — a financial plan built around real goals and timelines makes market swings easier to sit through