Most Canadians
enjoy the holidays
Toronto, December 17th – In a
random sampling of public opinion taken by The Forum Poll™ among 1601 Canadians,
18 years of age or older, the plurality (TOP2: 88%) say they like the holidays,
with almost two-thirds (61%) saying they strongly like them. About 1-in-10 (BTM2:
12%) dislike the holidays, with about half of those (5%) saying they strongly
dislike the holidays.
Those respondents more likely to enjoy the
holidays include the young (93%), females (90%), those who completed college or
university (92%), those earning $40,000 to $60,000 (92%), $60,000 to $80,000
(91%), $80,000 to $100,000 (89%), the wealthiest (89%), and those living in
Manitoba/Saskatchewan (93%), Quebec (91%), and Atlantic Canada (90%).
Those respondents least likely to enjoy the
holidays include the oldest (15%), those aged 35 to 44 (14%), 45 to 54 (14%),
and 55 to 64 (13%), males (14%), those with some college or university
education (16%), those with secondary school or less (14%), those earning
$20,000 or less (19%), those earning $20,000 to $40,000 (16%), and those living
in Ontario (15%), Alberta (14%) and British Columbia (12%).
Holiday
stress? Not really.
A majority of
respondents (BTM2: 57%) do not consider the holidays to be stressful, with
one-fifth (19%) saying they are not stressful at all.
About 4 in 10 (TOP2:
43%) say the holidays are stressful, but only 1 in 10 (11%) say they are very
stressful.
The
plurality celebrates the holidays
9-in-10
(91%) Canadians celebrate the holidays. A little less than 1-in-10 (9%) does
not.
Those respondents more likely to celebrate the
holidays include the young (95%),those aged 45 to 54 (92%), those with children (95%), those with some
college or university education (91%), those who completed college or
university (94%), those earning $80,000 to $100,000 (98%), $60,000 to $80,000
(96%), and the wealthiest (95%), those living in Manitoba/Saskatchewan (94%),
Alberta (94%), British Columbia (94%), and Atlantic Canada (92%).
Most
will also celebrate the arrival of 2019
About two-thirds (65%) say they celebrate New
Year’s Eve. 4-in-10 (41%) will celebrate at their home with friends, and nearly
3-in-10 (28%) will celebrate at the home of friends.
About 1 in 10 (9%) say they will be out at a bar,
restaurant, or banquet hall.
Few say they’ll go to a public event (4%) or on
vacation (3%).
About one-sixth (15%) have other plans.
Those respondents more likely to celebrate NYE
include the youngest (77%), males (68%), those with children (71%), those with
post-graduate degrees (71%), those earning $100,000 to $250,000 (77%), and those
living in British Columbia (69%), Quebec (69%), and Alberta (67%).
The
holiday season is about family
The majority of respondents (83%) will be
spending the holiday season with family. A little less than 1-in-10 (9%) will
be spending it with friends.
1 in 20 (5%) say they’ll be by themselves during
the holiday, while few (1%) say they’re planning to escape the holidays
altogether, or spend it with someone else (1%).
Those respondents more likely to spend it with
family include those aged 45 to 54 (88%) and 55 to 64 (85%), females (89%),
those with children (86%), the wealthiest (91%), those earning $40,000 to
$60,000 (88%), and those living in Quebec (89%).
Spending
remains about the same
One-half (52%) of respondents are spending about
the same they did last year on gift-giving. One-third (32%) of respondents are spending
less than they did last year and about 2-in-10 (15%) are spending more.
Those respondents spending about the same include
the oldest (56%), those aged 35 to 44 (54%), those aged 55 to 64 (56%), females
(54%), the wealthiest (58%), those earning $60,000 to $80,000 (57%), and
$100,000 to $250,000 (55%), those living in Quebec (61%) and Manitoba/Saskatchewan
(58%).
Those respondents spending less include the young
(34%), those aged 45 to 54 (34%), those earning less than $20,000 (40%), and
those living in British Columbia (40%).
3-in-10 list personal financial reasons as the
explanation for spending less this year compared to the past year. Other
popular explanations include: the holiday season isn’t about spending more
(26%), the economy (13%), blatant consumerism (13%), or something else (12%). Few
are spending less because people are saying they should cut down (3%).
The
majority will not include vegan options or gluten-free options for the holidays
The majority of respondents (78%) will not
include vegan options for the holidays or gluten-free options for the holidays
(80%). 2-in-10 (22%; 20%) will include vegan options and gluten-free options
respectively.
Just over half (57%) of those preparing vegan
options say they are doing so for someone else, while 4 in 10 (43%) say they
are doing it for themselves.
And two-thirds (67%) of those preparing gluten
free options say they’re doing it for someone else, while a third (33%) say
they’re doing it for themselves.
Those most likely to include vegan options
include those aged 65 and over (27%) and 45 to 54 (24%), females (24%), those
who completed some college or university education (23%), those who completed
college or university (23%), those earning less than $20,000 (30%), and those
living in British Columbia (30%).
Those most likely to include gluten free options
include those aged 35 to 44 (23%), 55 to 64 (22%), and the young (20%), females
(23%), those with some college or university education (25%), those earning
$60,000 to $80,000 (27%), less than $20,000 (26%), and $80,000 to $100,000
(24%), and those living in British Columbia (24%), Atlantic Canada (24%), and
Ontario (22%).
“For most,
the holidays are a season to be spent with family,” said Dr. Lorne Bozinoff,
President of Forum Research. “Many Canadians also say that the holidays are
stress free, which may come as a surprise to anyone shopping on December 24th…”
