"We're encouraged to see that Canadians are trying to find ways to manage their finances, which is particularly crucial given the current economic environment," Dave McKay, group head of Canadian Banking said in a statement.
"Reducing debt is a very good goal, but having money set aside for something unforeseen is also important. Sitting down with a financial planner to ensure you balance day-to-day-costs with growing your savings and planning for the unexpected should be part of your complete financial plan."
Many banks and financial companies regularly commission polls on the economy to gauge consumer attitudes and to promote products and services - ranging from mortgages and RRSP investments to wealth management and financial advice.
In the Royal survey, almost a third of survey respondents said they intend to focus on reducing debt and spending less, while 22 per cent plan to save or invest more, and 23 per cent intend to do all of that.
Federal officials, including Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney and Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, have warned for months that low interest rates have been encouraging Canadians to spend and that household debt is getting too high.
Evidence of the strain already being felt by households may come this year in the form of a higher insovlency rate as people fail to cope with mounting debts.
A CIBC Economics report also released Thursday found that the personal bankruptcy rate fell last year, but predicts that falling public sector employment and much weaker construction hiring will act as a drag on income growth.
"Accordingly, we project that the insolvency rate in Canada will start trending upward, if only mildly, over the course of the year," CIBC economist Benjamin Tal wrote in the report.
CIBC found that personal bankruptcies were down 20 per cent year-over-year in October, with the bankruptcy rate for 2011 as a whole is at its lowest level since 1993 at 2.8 per 1,000 people.
"However, the speed of the decline in the bankruptcy rate since its peak of 2009 exaggerates the real progress in household credit performance," Tal said.
"Note that in recent years, the number of proposals (a situation in which a consumer negotiates to repay only a portion of his/her debt) has risen dramatically, with the proposal rate reaching an all-time high in 2011."
Tal also noted that the insolvency rate, which combines bankruptcies and proposals, has improved since the recession to more than four per 1,000 adults, it is still slightly higher than the pre-recession level.