Home Improvements (61%) Top Choice if Canadians Were Given $100,000 To Spend
However, on average, Canadians estimate that it would only require about $62,000 (mean $62,369.06) in order to make their current home improvement dreams come true.
As for what they rooms or areas they would tackle first in the home improvement, the kitchen (29%) tops the list, followed by the basement (16%), outdoor living spaces (15%), bathrooms (13%), living room (13%), bedroom (7%) and finally, the workshop (3%).
These are the findings of an Ipsos-Reid poll conducted on behalf of Home Depot between September 30th and October 2nd, 2003. The poll is based on a randomly selected sample of 1,057 adult Canadians. 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 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 statistically weighted to ensure the sample's regional and age/sex composition reflects that of the actual Canadian population according to the 2001 Census data.
If given $100,000 to spend, and ask to spend it on only one thing, most (61%) Canadians would opt to use it for home improvements. A vacation (24%) comes in the runner-up spot, followed by a luxury car (9%), and jewellery or clothes (2%).
- Every region in the country opt for home improvement over all the other items tested. British Columbians (67%) and Atlantic Canadians (66%) lead the list, followed by Ontarians (63%), Albertans (60%), residents of Saskatchewan/Manitoba (59%) and Quebecers (55%). Quebecers (34%) on the other hand, are the most likely to choose to spend their $100,000 on a vacation.
- Middle-aged (68%) Canadians are significantly more likely to want to send their $100,000 on home improvements than are older (58%) or young adult (57%) Canadians. Young adults (29%) are more likely to say they would spend the money on a vacation than their older (22%) or middle aged (21%) counterparts.
- While men and women are equally as likely to opt for home improvements (men 62%; women 60%), a vacation (women 26%; men 21%), men (12%) are significantly more likely then women (7%) to chose to spend the money on a luxury car.
- Canadians in middle (67%) and upper (65%) income households are significantly more likely to pick home improvements over the other items, than are those in lower income households (53%).
- Those who own their homes (67%) are significantly more likely than those who rent (50%) to opt for home improvements. Renters (31%) are significantly more likely to select spending the $100,000 on a vacation, than are those who own their homes (20%).
- Albertans (mean $70,518.89) provide the highest dream home improvement estimate, while their neighbours to the east, in Saskatchewan/Manitoba (mean $46,503.01) provide the lowest estimate to make their home improvement dreams come true. Following Alberta is British Columbia (mean $69,710.88), Ontario (mean $66,505.30), Atlantic Canada (mean $56957.49) and Quebec ($54,603.49).
- Men (mean $65,045.40) estimate on average a higher cost for their home improvement dreams than women (mean $59,908.21).
- Middle aged (mean $64,210.48) and young adults (mean $63,844.23) provide higher average estimates than do older (mean $58,800.41) Canadians.
- Canadians in the highest income households (mean $70,876.63) estimate it would cost about $12,000 more to make their home improvement dreams come true than do those in the lowest (mean $59,121.12) or middle (mean $58,686.06) income households.
- Renters estimate it would cost approximately $75,0000 (mean $74,999.90) to make their home improvement dreams come true. This is almost $20,000 more than the estimate of those who own their home (mean $56,957.52).
- British Columbians (37%) are significantly more likely to say they would improve their kitchen first than those in Ontario (26%) or Atlantic Canada (22%). Residents of Saskatchewan/Manitoba (24%) are significantly more likely than are those in Quebec (14%) or British Columbia (9%) to say they would redo their basement first. Albertans (6%) are the least likely to say their top improvement priority would be outdoor living space. Quebecers (19%) are significantly more likely than are those in Ontario (11%), Saskatchewan/Manitoba (9%) or Alberta (9%) to say they would renovate their bathrooms first.
- Young adults (19%) are significantly more likely than their older (11%) or middle aged (10%) counterparts to say they would renovate their living rooms first.
- Men (17%) are more likely than women (12%) to say their first home improvement would involve outdoor living space, while women (9%) are more likely than men (5%) to say theirs would involve their bedroom.
- Those in lower income households (17%) are significantly more likely say they would start their home improvements with their living room, than are those in middle- income households (9%). Those in lower income households (11%) are significantly more likely than are those in upper income households (4%) to say they would start their home improvements with their bedrooms.
- While both owners and renters are equally as likely (29% each) to say they would renovate their kitchen first, owners (18%) are significantly more likely than renters (11%) to say their first home improvements would involve the basement. On the other hand, renters are more likely than owners to say their first improvements would involve their living room (renters 18% versus owners 10%) or their bedroom (renters 10% versus owners (6%).
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For more information on this news release, please contact:
John Wright
Senior Vice-President
Ipsos-Reid Public Affairs
(416) 324-2900
