Expedia Annual Vacation Deprivation Survey

Toronto, ON - According to the 2005 Expedia Vacation Deprivation Survey conducted by Ipsos-Reid, on average, Canadian workers have 4 weeks vacation time (21 days). And, as a whole, Canadians workers take a mean average of 20 vacation days a year. When we calculate the number of vacation days Canadians say they usually receive versus the number of vacation days they say they usually take, one-quarter (24%) doesn't usually take all of their days.

Possible reasons why Canadian workers may not be using all of their vacation time include the cost of taking a vacation (18%), the option of cashing out the days instead (10%), kids' school schedules (9%), fear of missing something important at work (8%), and/or concern that taking all of their vacation time will be perceived negatively by their employer (5%).

Unfortunately, one-quarter (23%) of Canadian workers have had to cancel or postpone a vacation because of work, 15% check their work messages while on vacation, and 5% say their boss is not very supportive of employees using their vacation time.

Most Canadian workers plan to take one long vacation in 2005 and use the rest of their days here and there. Four in ten (42%) will take at least one vacation that lasts up to 2 full weeks or 10 business days and take the rest here, and there and three in ten (28%) will take at least one vacation that lasts a full week or 5 business days and take the rest here and there. Which is a good thing because 54% of employed Canadians say they return from vacation feeling better about their job and more productive!

These are the findings of an Ipsos-Reid/Expedia poll conducted from April 8-10 and April 12-14, 2005. For the survey, a representative randomly selected sample of 1274 employed adult Canadians was interviewed by telephone. With a sample of this size, the results are considered accurate to within 1772.8 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had the entire employed adult Canadian 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 the sample's regional and age/sex composition reflects that of the actual Canadian population according to the 2001 Census data.

How Many Vacation Days To Canadian Workers Get A Year And How Many Do They Take?

On average, Canadian workers receive 4 weeks vacation time from their employer each year (21.04 mean average). Specifically, 5% have 1-5 days, 10% have 6-10 days, 20% have 11-15 days, 12% have 16-20 days, 15% have 21-25 days, 11% have 26-30 days, 3% have 31-35 days, and 10% have 36 or more days. One in ten (12%) employed Canadians get no vacation days. The remaining 4% don't know how many days they receive each year.

And, as a whole, Canadians workers usually take a mean average of 20.23 vacation days each year. One in ten (9%) employed Canadians take no vacation days, 8% take 1-5 days, 14% take 6-10 days, 20% take 11-15 days, 12% take 16-20 days, 13% take 21-25 days, 11% take 26-30 days, 3% take 31-35 days, and 10% take 36 or more days. The remaining 2% don't know how many vacation days they take each year.

When we calculate the number of vacation days Canadians say they usually receive versus the number of vacation days they say they usually take, one-quarter (24%) doesn't usually take all of their days: 1% have 1 day left over, 1% have 2 days leftover, 1% have 3 days leftover, 1% have 4 days leftover, 5% have 5 days leftover, and 16% have 6 or more days leftover. Two thirds (65%) have 0 days left over and one in ten (10%) take more vacation days than they receive.

In a subsequent question, when asked to think about an average year, 54% of employed Canadians say they use all of their vacation days, 20% use most of their vacation days, 13% use some of their vacation days, and 3% use none of their vacation days. One in ten (9%) Canadian workers say they don't get vacation days. The remaining 1% are unsure of the number of vacation days they usually take.

There Are Multiple Reasons Why Canadian Workers Are Unable To Take All Their Vacation Time

Given a list of possible reasons why they may not be able to take all of the vacation days their employer allows, 18% of employed Canadians say "I can't afford to take a vacation," 10% say "I can cash out my vacation days if I don't use them," 9% say "I have kids in school and it's hard to get away," 8% say "I feel like I might miss an important meeting or an important decision will be made without me," and 5% say "I fear that taking all of my vacation time will be perceived negatively by my employer and that my job might be in jeopardy." Slightly more than half (54%) say "I always take all of my vacation days," 9% answered "none of the above," and 1% is unsure.

Most (54%) Return From Vacation Feeling Better About Work And More Productive; 23% Have Cancelled/Postponed A Vacation Because Of Work

Given a list of five work-related situations and asked which apply to them, 54% of employed Canadians say "I return from vacation feeling better about my job and feeling more productive," 24% say "I regularly work more than 40 hours per week," 23% say "I have cancelled or postponed vacation plans in the past because of work," 15% say "I check my work messages, email and voicemail, while on vacation," and 5% say "my boss is not very supportive of employees using their vacation time." One in ten (9%) don't know which situations apply to them.

Most Plan To Take One Long Vacation, Use The Rest Here And There

Thinking of how they anticipate using the majority of their vacation time for the 2005 calendar year, four in ten (42%) employed Canadians say "I will take at least one vacation that lasts up to 2 full weeks or 10 business days and take whatever remaining time I have here and there" and three in ten (28%) say "I will take at least one vacation that lasts up to 1 full week or 5 business days and take whatever remaining time I have here and there." Approximately one in ten will either take "no long breaks--use a day here, a couple of days there" (11%) or "take off Friday and Monday and have a 4-day getaway" (7%). Another 11% anticipate using their 2005 vacation days in some other way and 1% are unsure of how they will use them.

For more information on this news release, please contact:
John Wright
Senior Vice-President
Ipsos-Reid
416.324.2900
[email protected]

Ipsos-Reid
Ipsos-Reid is Canada's market intelligence leader and the country's leading provider of public opinion research. With operations in eight cities, Ipsos-Reid employs more than 300 researcher professionals and support staff in Canada. The company has the biggest network of telephone call centres in Canada, as well as the largest pre-recruited household and on-line panels. Ipsos-Reid's Canadian marketing research and public affairs practices are staffed with seasoned research consultants with extensive industry-specific backgrounds, offering the premier suite of research vehicles in Canada--including the Ipsos Trend Report, the leading source of public opinion in the country--all of which provide clients with actionable and relevant information. Ipsos-Reid is an Ipsos company, a leading global survey-based market research group.

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