Free Time On A Long Weekend: What Canadians Want To Do and Who They'd Like To Share it With

Toronto, Ontario - What adult Canadians would like to do most with their free time on a long weekend is to "hang out with family and friends" (38%), "do a physical activity such as hiking" (29%), "have a lazy weekend" (15%), or "go camping" (15%) according to an Ipsos-Reid/Labatt Blue Light survey released today. Further, when asked to name what famous person, who is still alive, that they would most like to share their time with on a long weekend, adult Canadians chose "family member" (such as a spouse or parent) as their top choice (5%), followed by Prime Minister Jean Chretien (4%), Wayne Gretzky (3%), Celine Dion (3%), Mel Gibson (2%), Brad Pitt (2%), Nelson Mandella (2%), and Oprah Winfrey (2%).

Canadian adults were also asked to indicate which beverage they most enjoy in their free time on a long weekend with beer (34%) leading the way, followed by water (25%), wine (19%), juice/lemonade (14%), Coke (14%), liquor (13%), coffee (12%), tea (9%), iced tea (8%) and Pepsi (6%).

What is important about the question methodology for this survey is that the respondents were asked to provide their views to each one of these questions on a completely open-ended basis with no prompting or pre-coded potential answers. In other words, the answers to each one of these questions were wide open and unprompted except for the initial question.

These are the findings of an Ipsos-Reid poll conducted for Labatt Blue Light between July 24 and July 26, 2001.. The poll is based on a randomly selected sample of 974 adults aged 19+. With a sample of this size, the results are considered accurate to within 177 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had the entire 19+ 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 statistically weighted to ensure the sample's regional and age/sex composition reflects that of the actual 19+ adult population according to the 1996 Census data.

What Canadians Would Like To Do Most With Their Free Time On A Long Weekend

Asked to provide two pursuits that they want to do on a long weekend with their free time Canadians indicated an activity list almost as long as the long weekend.

While most want to "hang out with family and friends" (38%), "have a lazy weekend" (15%), "read" (12%), "sleep" (2%) or "sit on a patio enjoying a beer" (1%), most everyone else will be keeping active by doing a "physical activity" (such as hiking) (29%), "going camping" (15%) "traveling" (12%), "heading up to the cottage with friends" (9%), "doing hobbies and crafts" (8%), "fishing" (8%), "going to restaurants/movies and events" (6%), "playing golf" (5%), "going to the beach" (4%), "working around the house" (3%), "playing sports activities" (3%), "attending a sporting event" (3%) and "sailing/boating" (3%).

• The results also highlight different regional and demographic differences in terms of what people would like to do most with their free time on a long weekend.
• The provinces most likely to "hang out with family and friends"(38%) are led by Saskatchewan/Manitoba (55%) and Atlantic Canada (43%). This is also the category most chosen by those aged 25-34 (50%) and by women (41%).
• In terms of physical activities (29%) the provinces most likely to choose this free time activity are Quebec (41%) and British Columbia (34%), dominated by youth aged 19-24 (35%).
• For those who want to have a lazy weekend (15%), Ontario leads the way with 21%, with campers (15%) most likely to be found in Alberta (24%), British Columbia (21%) and Atlantic Canada (20%), dominated by 19-24 year olds (29%).
• Those travelling (12%) and reading (12%) are from Quebec, 18% and 19% respectively, whereas heading up to a cottage with friends (9%) is preferred in Atlantic Canada (14%) and Ontario (12%).
• Hobbies and crafts (8%) are preferred in British Columbia (13%), whereas fishing (8%) is chosen by Alberta and Quebec, each at 10%.
• For restaurants/movies/events, (6%) Quebec stands tall at 12%, while golf (5%) leads in Alberta (6%) and those who are beach bound (4%) are most likely to be found in Saskatchewan/Manitoba (7%).

So, What Famous Person, Who Is Still Alive, Would Canadians Most Like To Share Their Time With On A Long Weekend?

Given the choice, 5% off the top of their head chose "a family member" such as a spouse or a parent--primarily driven by respondents in Quebec (10%).

Next on the list of open-ended choices was Prime Minister Jean Chretien (4%), who was most likely to be chosen by those in Ontario (5%) and Quebec (5%); Wayne Gretzky (3%) was the preference of Saskatchewan/Manitoba (7%) while Celine Dion (3%) was the most likely to get an invitation in Quebec (6%).

Mel Gibson (2%) was the envy of Alberta (6%), whereas Julia Roberts (2%) was offered invitations everywhere except in Atlantic Canada. Bill Clinton (2%) was most preferred in Ontario (3%), whereas Brad Pitt (2%) was most envied in British Columbia (3%) and Tom Cruise (2%) likewise in British Columbia (3%) and Atlantic Canada (3%).

The number one guest for youth aged 19-24 was Julia Roberts (7%), whereas those aged 25-34 split between family (5%) and Wayne Gretzky (5%). To the middle-aged and older, family member (5%) top the list for 35-54, whereas the Prime Minister was most preferred 55+ (7%). From a gender perspective the most preferred invite by men went to a family member (6%) compared to women at 4% -- who obviously had a hard time choosing since that was tied with Celine Dion (4%) and Mel Gibson (4%).

Many other potential invitees were suggested by another 62% of the population. In addition to such notables as international leaders such as Vladimir Putin and Tony Blair; spiritual leaders the Pope and the Dalai Lama; and Canadians Jacque Villeneuve and Stompin' Tom Connors. A complete list of their open-ended responses is found in Appendix "A".

And, What Beverage Do Canadians Most Enjoy In Their Free Time On A Long Weekend?

When asked on an open-ended basis to provide up to two choices as to what beverage they would most enjoy on a long weekend, Canadian adults (19+) responded with beer (34%) (and this was most preferred in Quebec at 38% and Alberta at 38%), water (25%) (most preferred in Saskatchewan and Manitoba at 28%), wine (19% which is most preferred in Quebec at 34%), juice (14%), (mainly from Quebec at (21%), Coke (14%) (Saskatchewan and Manitoba on top at 19%), liquor (13%) mainly from Quebec (15%), coffee (12%) (preferred in Saskatchewan and Manitoba at 18%), tea (9%) (preferred by Atlantic Canadians at 12%), iced tea (8%) (chosen by 14% in Saskatchewan and Manitoba), and Pepsi (6%) (being poured the most in Quebec at 9%).

To view the complete media release please download the PDF file.

For more information on this news release, please contact:

John Wright
Senior Vice President
Public Affairs
Ipsos-Reid
(416) 324-2900