Canadian consumer confidence fell in August to its lowest level in more than a year, according to the Conference Board of Canada’s Index of Consumer Confidence survey.

Not only did confidence decline by 5.6 points to 118.3, Canadians were also more pessimistic about family finances, job market prospects, and big ticket spending. The survey was conducted between August 11 and August 16.

“Consumer spending has been driving economic growth for much of 2005, but this is the first significant decline in confidence this year,” said Pedro Antunes, director of economic forecasting. “It appears that high energy costs and looming interest rate hikes are starting to worry consumers. If confidence continues to drop over the next few months, we will start to see an impact on domestic spending.”

With a gloomier outlook on family finances and employment prospects, consumers’ appetites for big ticket spending also took a downturn. In August, 54.4% of respondents said that the time was right for purchasing a home or car, a decline of six percentage points from July.

Confidence fell in all regions of the country. British Columbia experienced the sharpest decline, falling 7.8 index points. Confidence in Ontario declined by 6.9 points and the Prairies lost 5.5 points.