Not Yet Ready To Venture Out: Even If It is Permitted, Only Two In Ten (20%) Canadians Likely to Travel Outside Canada This Year
Toronto, ON, May 17, 2020 — With travel plans indefinitely on hold for Canadians, the face of travel may change permanently even once the virus wanes and bans are lifted. According a to a new poll conducted by Ipsos on behalf of Global News, even if it is permitted, a majority of Canadians appear reluctant to travel out of the country, or even domestically in 2020. Willingness aside, the question is if Canadians will even have enough finances to make travel possible, as financial concerns are making Canadians more averse to the idea.

Travelling
International Travel
Only two in ten (20%) Canadians are very/somewhat likely to travel outside the country in 2020, even if it is allowed, while a full half (50%) indicate that they are not at all likely.
As would be expected at a time like this, following record high unemployment, income is heavily determining readiness to travel as a majority of those with household income of less than $40K (57%) indicate they are not at all likely to travel outside Canada in 2020 (vs. 45% $60-<$100K, 44%, $100K+). Women (54% vs. 46% men) and older Canadians over the age of 34 are also more averse and say they are not at all likely to travel out of country (49% 35-54, 61% 55+ vs. 38% 18-34).
Domestic Travel
Canadians are more open to domestic travel within Canada this year, with four in ten (37%) indidcating they would be likely to travel outside their province if it was allowed. As expected, those with a household income of less than $40K (27%) are the least likely to consider even domestic travel (vs. 42% $40-<$60K, 43% $60-<$100K, 41% $100K+). On the other hand, likelihood to travel domestically is highest in the Prairies where plans to reopen the economy have already started to be implemented (61% Alberta, 53% Saskatchewan/Manitoba) and lowest in Ontario (30%) and Quebec (28%), where the number of COVID-19 cases are the highest .
Stay in Hotel
A third (32%) of Canadians are very/somewhat likely to stay in a hotel in 2020 if it becomes permissible and once again, this rises to nearly half (49%) in Alberta where residents are the most willing (vs. British Columbia 34%, Atlantic 32%, Quebec 30%, Ontario 27%).
Interestingly, seven in ten (68%) are not likely to stay in a hotel, which includes a third (31%) that sit on the extreme end and are not at all likely. This aversion is highest among lower income Canadians earning less than $40K (44%) who are not at all likely to stay in a hotel (vs. 27% $40K-<$60K, 26% $60K-<$100K, 23% $100K+).
About the Study
These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between May 8 and 11, 2020, on behalf of Global News. For this survey, a sample of 1000 Canadians aged 18+ was interviewed online. Quotas and weighting were employed to ensure that the sample’s composition reflects that of the Canadian population according to census parameters. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll is accurate to within ± 3.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all Canadians aged 18+ been polled. The credibility interval will be wider among subsets of the population. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error.
For more information on this news release, please contact:
Darrell Bricker, PhD
CEO, Ipsos Global Public Affairs
+1 416 324-2001
[email protected]
About Ipsos
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