Early Moving Costs Catch Some Canadians By Surprise

Toronto, ON - While kicking back and relaxing may be the typical idea that Canadians have of summer recreation, for many, however, summer's leading experience will entail making the move to a new home. A new Ipsos Reid poll conducted on behalf of First Canadian Title assesses Canadians' level of knowledge when it comes to moving homes, the level of stress associated with this activity, and the degree to which Canadians are prepared for some of the intricacies of such a complicated event.

Canadians Surprised By Early Costs...

While the survey found that, by and large, Canadians claim to be quite prepared for the costs and expenditures during their first year in their new homes, one quarter (26%) of Canadians were either `completely' (3%) or `somewhat unprepared' (23%) for the costs and expenditures that one must endure during the first year in a new home. On the other hand, three quarters (74%) of Canadians felt that they were `completely' (18%) or `somewhat prepared' (56%) for these costs.

• Residents of Quebec are most likely to indicate that they were prepared for the various costs associated with living in a new house for the first year, with eight in ten (82%) indicating that they were.
• It was on the coasts that Canadians were most likely to find themselves unprepared for the costs and expenditures of their first year in a new home. Fully three in ten (30%) residents of Atlantic Canada and British Columbia felt unprepared. However, Albertans are likely to feel some sympathy for their coastal counterparts, with 29% responding they felt unprepared for their first year in a new house.

Unprepared For Closing Costs...

Even higher percentages (43%) of Canadians were `very' (19%) or `somewhat unprepared' (24%) for up-front closing costs before making the offer on their first home.

• Quebecers claim to be more knowledgeable than Canadians in other regions. The majority (66%) state they were `very' (12%) or `somewhat knowledgeable' (54%) about the up-front closing costs before they made an offer on their first home.

Canadians Coping With Stresses Of Moving...

Canadian homeowners were also asked about the level of stress they experienced around moving day. The findings revealed that two in ten (22%) described the experience of moving as `very' (4%) or `quite stressful' (18%). Of those who described their move as very stressful, two thirds (66%) stated that they were either `very' (20%) or `somewhat unprepared' (46%) for the costs and expenses that come with the first year in their new homes, or rated themselves as very or somewhat unknowledgeable of up-front closing costs before they made an offer on their first home.

• Among Canadians, Residents of Saskatchewan and Manitoba (28%) were more likely to rate their level of stress as `very' (5%) or `quite stressful' (23%) when compared to just two in ten (17%) residents of British Columbia who indicated the same degree of stress.
• On the other hand, British Columbian residents were most likely (37%) to rate their stress level as less than they thought it would be, or not at all stressful.
• Albertans were the most likely to feel that they were able to manage the stresses of moving day, over half (56%) felt that moving day was `somewhat stressful, but manageable'.

These are the findings of an Ipsos Reid poll conducted on behalf of First Canadian Title from June 18 - 22, 2007. For the survey, a representative randomly selected sample of 1019+ adult homeowners from the Ipsos' Online Panel were surveyed. With a sample of this size, the results are considered accurate to within 177 3.0 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had the entire adult population been polled. The margin of error will be larger within regions and for other sub-groupings of the survey population. These data were weighted to ensure that the sample's regional and age/sex composition reflects that of the actual Canadian population according to Census data.

For more Information on this news release, please contact:
John Wright
Senior Vice President
Ipsos Reid
Public Affairs
(416) 324-2900
[email protected]

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