Holiday Celebrations Reborn, Regardless of What Public Health and Officials Say
December 1, 2022
In our latest national survey completed on November 30th, we asked Canadians about their plans for holiday gatherings. Comparing our results to last year, Canadians are significantly more comfortable celebrating with family and friends this holiday season.
This year, only 12% intend to restrict their holiday plans to household members only. This is down from 51% who said the same last year.
As of right now 44% are taking a wait and see approach- saying they may still get together with family from different households, but will be extra cautious and safe (33% in 2021). 38% say they will get together with family for the holidays like they usually do, regardless of what health authorities say (8% in 2021).
If health authorities were to discourage gatherings as they have done in the past, close to 1 in 5 say they would no longer gather, but overall, Canadians wouldn’t be halting their plans. In this situation only 20% indicated that they would follow these recommendations. 39% would still gather, but be extra cautious, and 34% would celebrate as usual, regardless of what health authorities say.
Results were fairly consistent across the country with BC residents being the most likely to follow recommendations and stay home, and Ontario and Quebec residents being the least likely.
UPSHOT
Although provincial governments and health authorities have not yet suggested any limitations to holiday gatherings this season, there is a sizeable minority concerned about the risks.
However, what’s most concerning is the number of individuals who would not follow the guidance of provincial governments and health authorities. Holiday celebrations have been reborn, and are back to pre-pandemic intentions, regardless of what public health and officials say.
METHODOLOGY
The survey was conducted with 1,500 Canadian adults from November 25 to 30, 2022. A random sample of panelists were invited to complete the survey from a set of partner panels based on the Lucid exchange platform. These partners are typically double opt-in survey panels, blended to manage out potential skews in the data from a single source.
The margin of error for a comparable probability-based random sample of the same size is +/- 2.1%, 19 times out of 20.
The data were weighted according to census data to ensure that the sample matched Canada’s population according to age, gender, educational attainment, and region. Totals may not add up to 100 due to rounding.
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