A year-end survey by Leger found that one-fourth to one-third of Canadians said they will be spending less on vacation spending this year than they will in 2021, with rising inflation and a possible recession high on Canadians’ list of top concerns stand for 2023.

The December Leger poll, conducted on behalf of BNN Bloomberg and RATESDOTCA, asked 1,526 Canadians about their vacation spending this year and how Canadians feel about 2022 overall and their outlook for 2023.

Canadians were generally more likely to say they spent about the same on their vacation as they did last year compared to those who spent more or less, ranging from 26% to 49% depending on the category.

However, spending less was much more common than spending more.

A third of Canadians said they will spend less on travel this year than they did in 2021, with just 26% saying they would spend about the same and 11% saying they would spend more.

Respondents could choose whether a category did not apply to them or whether they did not know, with travel and alcohol being the two sections with the most answers.

The category where the highest percentage of Canadians said they would be spending more this year was food, with 19% saying they would be spending more than they did in 2021 – still significantly less than the 49% who said they that they would spend about the same, and the 26 percent who said they would spend less.

Just 7% of Canadians surveyed said they will spend more on entertainment this year, compared to 40% who said they will spend about the same and 35% who said they will spend less on entertainment than they did in 2021.

People aged 55 and over were generally the least likely to say they spent more on any holiday spending category this year, while those aged 18 to 34 were the most likely to spend more compared to 2021.

About 15% of 18-34 year olds said they will spend more on entertainment this year, for example, compared to just 2% of those aged 55 and over.

In general, Quebec respondents were the least likely to say they were spending less than 2021 across all categories. For example, in the friends and family housing category, all other provinces included had a percentage of 30-35% choosing to pay less, while only 20% of Quebec respondents chose this option.

About 45% of Albertans said they will be spending less on gifts and travel this year, compared to the national average of 33% for both categories.

The survey also included comparisons with 1,000 Americans who were asked the same questions.

Overall, Canadians are more likely to say they’re spending less on vacations this year than Americans. The biggest difference was when it came to spending on entertainment, where 35% of Canadians said they spend less compared to just 23% of Americans surveyed.

2022 VERSUS 2023 – PLEASANT FOR THE FUTURE

Just under a third of Canadians surveyed said they felt 2022 was worse than 2021, with 21% saying it was better and 46% saying it was about the same.

There was a clear relationship between age and perceived year. People aged 18 to 34 were 27% more likely to say it was better than 2021 and 21% less likely to say it was worse. At the other end of the scale, just 17% of those aged 55 and over said 2022 was better than 2021, while 35% said it was worse than 2021.

However, Canadians were more optimistic than pessimistic about the overall future. Around 34% said they thought 2023 would be better than 2022, with 40% saying it would be about the same and 22% thinking it would be worse.

Age played a similar role on this question, with younger Canadians being significantly more optimistic. Around 43% of 18-34 year olds said they thought 2023 would be better compared to 27% of those over 55, 15% of 18-34 year olds chose the pessimistic option, compared with 27% of those over 55 .

When asked what they were worried about in 2024, the top five categories of concern were higher inflation/interest rates (86%), economic recession (81%), escalating war in Ukraine (72%) and causing catastrophic Weather phenomena caused by climate change (68%) and the use of nuclear weapons (66%).

When respondents were asked to name a top concern as their top concern, 44% chose higher inflation, while 31% chose a recession and 15% chose weather events related to climate change.

Albertans were the most likely to choose higher inflation or a recession as their main concern, at 56% and 45% respectively, and the least likely to say extreme weather conditions related to climate change were their main concern, with only 5% choosing this option.

The province with the lowest percentage choosing higher inflation as their main concern was Quebec at 32%. Quebec also had the highest percentage of respondents citing the weather as their top concern related to climate change, at 23%.

Compared to the United States, Canadians were 15% versus 10% more likely to cite climate change-related weather as a top concern for 2023 and more likely to cite escalating warfare in Ukraine as a top concern. , at 11% versus 4%.

Canadians reported higher levels of concern than Americans in most categories, but more Americans said they were concerned about rising discrimination in 2024 (21% vs. 17%), political upheaval in their region (36% vs. 30%) and making their civil rights violated (48% vs. 39%).

METHODOLOGY

This survey was completed by 1,526 Canadians ages 18 and older between December 9 and December 12, 2022 using Leger’s online panel. No margin of error is given as an online survey is not considered a truly representative sample. However, for comparison purposes, a probability sample of 1,526 respondents would have an error rate of ±2.5%, 19 out of 20.

With files from BNN Bloomberg