Nearly Six in Ten (58%) Canadians Are Not Confident They Will Take a Winter Vacation This Year

Toronto, ON - Nearly six in ten (58%) Canadians are not confident (39% not at all/19% somewhat) they will get to take a winter vacation this year (between and including December and March), according to a new Ipsos survey conducted on behalf of Allianz Global Assistance.

Conversely, four in ten (42%) Canadians are confident (22% very/20% somewhat) that they will be taking a winter vacation. A vacation is defined as a leisure trip of at least one week outside of your home province.

More men (47%) than women (37%) are confident that they will take a winter vacation this year. Winter vacation confidence is also higher among those with a higher household income, standing at 61% of Canadians earning more than $100,000 compared to 34% of those earning less than $40,000. Canadians with kids (49%) are also more confident than those without (40%) that they'll have a vacation over the winter months

Regionally, Quebecers (46%) are more confident they'll take a winter vacation this year, followed closely by residents of the Atlantic provinces (45%), Albertans (45%), Ontarians (41%), residents of Saskatchewan and Manitoba (40%) and British Columbians (37%).

Over one in three (36%) Canadians say they typically take an annual winter vacation of some kind, slightly behind the 42% who are confident they'll take a winter vacation, meaning some of those who don't usually take a vacation during the winter months will take one this winter. Though men (69%) and women (70%) are equally likely to find annual vacations important, men (40%) are more likely than women (31%) to take an annual winter vacation. Meanwhile at the regional level, Albertans (41%) and Quebecers (40%) are the most likely to take a winter vacation annually, followed by residents of Saskatchewan and Manitoba (39%), Ontario (33%), BC (33%) and the Atlantic provinces (26%).

Annual Vacation Deficit

Looking into the year ahead, even if Canadians can't pull off a winter vacation, seven in ten (68%) are confident (40% very/27% somewhat) they will be taking a vacation at some point in the next 12 months. Among the seven in ten (70%) Canadians who say having an annual vacation is important (35% very/35% somewhat) to them, 83% are confident they'll take one during the next 12 months, leaving a deficit of nearly two in ten (17%) Canadians who aren't confident they'll get a vacation over the next year, despite its importance to them.

At the same time, more than one in three Canadians (36%) haven't taken any vacation in more than two years, and more than one in ten (15%) say it has been between one and two years since their last vacation. However, almost half (48%) of Canadians did have a vacation at some point within the past year: either 7-12 months ago (16%), 4-6 months ago (15%), 1-3 months ago (12%) or in the past month (5%).

Regionally, Quebecers (71%) and Albertans (71%) are more likely to say they are confident that they will be taking a vacation in the next 12 months followed by residents of the Atlantic provinces (70%), British Columbians (67%), Ontarians (65%), and residents of Saskatchewan and Manitoba (63%).

Value of the Canadian Dollar

The fluctuating value of the Canadian dollar can be a factor in deciding when and where some Canadians choose to vacation. More than half (56%) say that the current value of the Canadian dollar against the U.S. dollar could prevent them from travelling to the United States (18% definitely would/38 % might). Nearly as many (54%) say the value of the dollar against the euro could stop them from visiting a country in the Eurozone (18% definitely would/36% might), while half (49%) say the same about the British pound's impact on a potential visit to Britain (17% definitely would/32% might). One in three (34%) say the value of the Canadian dollar against the Chinese Yuan Renminbi could prevent them from travelling to China (12% definitely/22% might), while three in ten (29%) say the dollar's value against the Mexican peso could prevent them from visiting Mexico (10% definitely/19% might), while. Others say currency effects wouldn't prevent them from visiting these countries, or that they wouldn't consider travelling there in the first place:

Even though some Canadians say that currency fluctuations may prevent them to travelling to certain destinations, overall, it appears many of us are still willing to travel overseas regardless. Two in three (66%) Canadians say the value of the Canadian dollar will not influence their future vacation plans in the next 12 months, and six in ten (62%) say it did not influence their vacation plans of the past 12 months. This leaves 34% who are anticipating an influence on their vacation plans in the next 12 months, and 38% who felt an influence from currency effects in the past, causing them to...

Others reconsidered their vacation, but ultimately moved forward with going anyway (15% past / 14% future).

Those whose travel plans have been or will be influenced by the value of the Canadian dollar are most likely to have been planning a trip to the United States (63% past/57% future) when their plans were impacted, followed by the Caribbean (20% past/23% future), Europe (17% past/25% future), Latin America (9% past/10% future), Asia (9% past/12% future), Africa (5% past/6% future), Australia and the South Pacific (6% past/11% future), and the Middle East (4%past/5% future).

Albertans (23%) were more likely than residents of other provinces to cancel a vacation in the past 12 months due to the value of the Canadian dollar, followed by those living in the Atlantic provinces (19%), Quebec (16%), Saskatchewan and Manitoba (15%), Ontario (12%) and BC (11%). Household income is also a factor, with those earning less than $40,000 (23%) being significantly more likely to cancel an upcoming vacation because of currency effects than those earning $100K or more (7%).

Winter Vacation Expenses Holding Steady for Most

While more than half (58%) of those going on winter vacation this year plan on spending about the same amount of money as they did last year, almost two in ten (16%) will be spending more, leaving just 8% who plan on spending less, suggesting a modest net uptick. A further two in ten (19%) didn't take a winter vacation last year, suggesting that the travel market this winter may be heating up.

Residents of BC (21%) and Saskatchewan and Manitoba (21%) are most likely to spend more on this year's winter vacation compared to last year's. Those living in the Atlantic provinces (63%) and Quebec (62%) are most likely to spend about the same.

Those who have winter travel plans this year anticipate spending an average of $2,593 on their vacation, including costs for travel, accommodations, and entertainment. More specifically...

• Cancel their vacation (15% past/11% future);
• Change their travel dates (10% past/11% future);
• Change their destination (13% past/14% future);
• Change their mode of transportation (10% past/9% future)
• Change their hotel or form of accommodation (11% past/10% future); or
• Change local tours or planned activities (12% past/10% future).

  Some Canadians are planning on splurging more than others while on winter vacation. For instance, on average, traveling residents of Saskatchewan and Manitoba ($3,359) anticipate spending the most on their winter vacation followed by residents of BC ($3,343), Alberta ($3,215), Ontario ($2,618), Atlantic Canada ($2,292) and Quebec ($1,861). Baby Boomers ($3,395) are ready to spend significantly more on average than younger generations, with Gen X'ers anticipating to spend $2,355 on their winter vacation and Millennials spending $2,027 on theirs. Moreover, Canadians with kids expect to spend more than the national average, estimating spending $2,759 on their vacation travel, accommodation and entertainment costs.

  • Three in ten (28%) will spend between $1 and $1000;
  • 24% will spend $1,001-$2,000;
  • 17% will spend $2,001-$3,000;
  • 10% will spend $3,001-$4,000;
  • 10% will spend $4001-$5,000;
  • 7% will spend $5,000-$10,000 on their winter vacation.
  • These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between November 1st and November 3rd, 2016, on behalf of Allianz Global Assistance. For this survey, a sample of 2,000 Canadians from Ipsos' online panel was interviewed online. Weighting was then employed to balance demographics to ensure that the sample's composition reflects that of the adult population according to Census data and to provide results intended to approximate the sample universe. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll is accurate to within +/ - 2.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all Canadian adults 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:

    Sean Simpson
    Vice President
    (416) 324-2002
    Ipsos Public Affairs
    [email protected]

    About Ipsos

    Ipsos ranks third in the global research industry. With a strong presence in 87 countries, Ipsos employs more than 16,000 people and has the ability to conduct research programs in more than 100 countries. Founded in France in 1975, Ipsos is controlled and managed by research professionals. They have built a solid Group around a multi-specialist positioning-- Media and advertising research; Marketing research; Client and employee relationship management; Opinion & social research; Mobile, Online, Offline data collection and delivery. Ipsos has been listed on the Paris Stock Exchange since 1999. www.ipsos.com