(Bloomberg) -- Millions of Canadians may soon find themselves unable to pay their bills as the Covid-19 shutdown puts them out of work, with no certainty to when normal activity will resume.

A new survey by Nanos Research Group for Bloomberg News shows that nearly one in five Canadians are at risk of missing a major payment in the next four weeks. That includes payments for a mortgage, loan, rent or credit card. Those 18 to 34 years old are the most vulnerable, with 26% saying they are prone to missing payments.

The survey underscores why the government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has escalated its fiscal response. Last week, it offered to subsidize wages by up to 75% to encourage employers not to fire workers. It also crafted programs to help people who’ve lost their incomes and companies that need emergency loans. The price tag on the government’s stimulus package is now at least C$202 billion ($143 billion), and is likely to grow.

The results of the Nanos survey show that many Canadians are at high risk of financial trouble in a pandemic that has led to more than 1.5 million jobless claims in the 10-day period ended March 25, far higher than any previous record. The poll found 8% of respondents said were likely to miss a major payment, with 10% saying they were somewhat likely to do so. The numbers were highest in Alberta, where 21% of those surveyed said they were at risk.

Before the crisis, Canadian households were already carrying near-record levels of debt, with 15% of their incomes going toward servicing debt in the fourth quarter of 2019. Since the virus crisis began, the country’s largest banks have fielded hundreds of thousands of calls from homeowners who want to defer mortgage payments.

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Trudeau is hoping the new programs will put an end to the labor force bleeding. The wage subsidy will apply to any company that has lost at least 30% of its revenue and is capped at C$847 a worker per week. The government said it will also provide C$2,000 a month directly to individuals who have lost income due to the coronavirus for up to four months.

Still, neither program is going to send cash quickly enough to help people make rent or other payments that are due April 1. Some provinces have instituted new rules to ensure tenants cannot be evicted during the crisis, and the national banking regulator implemented rules to encourage banks to allow some customers to defer payments.

The poll, a hybrid telephone and online random survey of 1,013 people, was taken between March 24 and March 27. It has a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.