New Boating Safety Regulations Survey

Upon being informed of the new boating safety regulations introduced by the federal government . More than six-in-ten (63%) Canadians have seen, read or heard something about the new boating safety regulations. Even more notably, 80 percent of those who own, operate, or have access to a boat indicate awareness of the new regulations.

• Men (69%) are more likely to be aware of the new boating safety regulations than women (58%).
• Residents of Saskatchewan and Manitoba (74%) are the most likely to be aware of the new regulations, whereas those in Atlantic Canada (55%) and Alberta (53%) are the least likely.
• Canadians aged 18-34 are less likely (58%) to be aware of the regulations than those in the 35-54 (67%) or 55+ (64%) age brackets.
• Two-thirds of Canadians in the $30,000-$59,000 (67%) and $60,000+ (66%) annual household income brackets are aware of the new boating regulations, compared to 54 percent of those in the lower income bracket.

Incidence of "Boaters"

Just over a quarter (27%) of Canadians own, operate, or have access to a boat.

• Almost one-third (32%) of men own, operate, or have access to a boat, compared to just under a quarter (23%) of women.
• Residents of Quebec (17%), Ontario (28%), and Alberta (29%) are less likely to own, operate, or have access to a boat than those in British Columbia (37%), Saskatchewan/Manitoba (35%), or the Atlantic provinces (35%).
• Canadians in the lowest income bracket are much less likely to own, operate, or have access to a boat (14%) than those in the middle income (30%) and upper income (34%) brackets.
• Just under three in ten (29%) adult Canadians under the age of 55 own, operate, or have access to a boat, compared to 22 percent of Canadians aged 55 or older.

Awareness Of Required Boating Safety Items

The new boating safety regulations require that all motor boats have a minimum number of safety items onboard at all times. Among those who own, operate, or have access to a boat, a life jacket or preserver (91%) is the most often mentioned piece of safety equipment believed to be mandatory onboard boats at all times.

Other pieces of safety equipment receive noticeably fewer mentions, including paddles/oars (38%), flares (27%), horn (25%), fire extinguisher (21%), bailing bucket/device (21%), rope/throw line (11%), and flashlight/lanterns (10%).

These are the findings of an Angus Reid/Canadian Tire poll conducted between June 15 and June 22, 2000. The poll is based on a randomly selected sample of 1,505 adult Canadians. With a sample of this size, the results are considered accurate to within 177 2.5 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 1996 Census data.

For more information on this news release, please contact:

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