While One Quarter (23%) of Canadians Say Barbecue Season Officially Starts on "Victoria Day Long Weekend", Most (39%) Say, "Barbecue Season Never Ends"...

A quarter (23%) of Canadians think barbecue season begins "Victoria Day long weekend", and 22% think it begins "the first day the thermometer creeps above 10 degrees." Only 8% of Canadians think the "Canada Day long weekend" signifies the beginning of barbecue season.

Nearly eight in ten Canadians (78%) own a barbecue, and during the summer months their cooking time is evenly divided between the kitchen (50%) and the backyard/deck (49%).

Seven in ten Canadians with a barbecue (69%) say it is the men in their household who do the barbecuing, and two thirds (67%) think that in general men are better barbecuers. Most (46%) of barbecuing Canadians say the "quality of the ingredients" is the secret to a great barbecue meal, compared to other condiments and barbecuer's skills and equipment.

Given a choice of five celebrities, 45% of Canadians with barbecues say they would want Jim Carrey to host a backyard barbecue for them and their friends.

Lastly, while a majority (55%) of barbecuers say "spending time at the cottage or the beach" is their favourite summer outdoor activity, a full third (35%) say "barbecuing with friends" is their favourite summer outdoor activity.

These are the findings of an Ipsos-Reid poll conducted on behalf of Food Network Canada between May 7th and May 11th, 2003. The poll is based on a randomly selected sample of 1000 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. Of the 1000 adult Canadians polled, 777 were classified as barbecue owners. With a sub-sample of this size, the results are considered accurate to within 1773.5 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 2001 Census data.

So when does Barbecue Season Start? Four in Ten Canadians (39%) Say "Barbecue Season Never Ends"...

When asked what signifies the beginning of barbecue season, 39% of respondents say, "barbecue season never ends."

A further 23% of Canadians think barbecue season begins "Victoria Day long weekend", and 22% think it begins "the first day the thermometer creeps above 10 degrees." Only 8% of Canadians think the "Canada Day long weekend" signifies the beginning of barbecue season.

• Albertans (57%) are the most likely to say "barbecue season never ends", followed by residents of British Columbia (48%), Ontario (45%), and Atlantic Canada (42%). Residents of Saskatchewan/Manitoba (34%) and Quebec (19%) are significantly less likely to feel this way.

• Young (26%) and middle-aged (24%) adults are significantly more likely than their older counterparts (16%) to begin their barbecue season "the first day the thermometer creeps above 10 degrees".

• Canadians from upper (44%) and middle (41%) income households are significantly more likely than their counterparts from lower income households (30%) to believe "barbecue season never ends"; and individuals from upper income households (25%) are significantly more inclined than their counterparts from lower income households (16%) to think barbecue season begins "the first day the thermometer creeps above 10 degrees".

Nearly eight in ten Canadians (78%) own a barbecue, and during the summer months their cooking time is evenly divided between the kitchen (50%) and the backyard/deck (49%).

• Canadians residing in Alberta (87%) are the most likely to own a barbecue, followed by residents of Atlantic Canada (84%), British Columbia (80%), and Ontario (77%). Residents of Quebec (73%) and Saskatchewan/Manitoba (71%) are less likely to own a barbecue.

• Middle-aged Canadians (82%) are significantly more likely than their younger (73%) and older (76%) counterparts to own a barbecue.

• Canadians from upper (89%) and middle (78%) income households are significantly more likely than their counterparts from lower income households (61%) to own a barbecue.

• Residents of Ontario (56%) are significantly more likely than their counterparts in British Columbia (38%) and Quebec (42%) to do the bulk of their cooking in the backyard/deck during the summer months, while residents of British Columbia (61%) and Quebec (57%) are significantly more likely than their counterparts in Ontario (43%) to do the bulk of their cooking in the kitchen during the summer months.

• Younger (51%) and middle-aged (55%) Canadians are significantly more likely than their older counterparts (39%) to do the bulk of their cooking in the backyard/deck during the summer months, while older Canadians (61%) are significantly more likely than their younger (49%) and middle-aged (43%) counterparts to do most of their summertime cooking in the kitchen.

• Women (54%) are more likely than men (44%) to say that the bulk of their household's cooking during the summer months is done in the backyard/deck, while men (56%) are more likely than women (45%) to think most of their household's summertime cooking is done in the kitchen.

Seven in ten Canadians with a barbecue (69%) say it is the men in the household who do the barbecuing, and two thirds (67%) think that in general men are better barbecuers.

• Men (78%) are significantly more likely than women (60%) to say that it is the men in their household who do most of the barbecuing. Although the majority of women do say that it is men who do most of the barbecuing in their household, women (38%) are significantly more likely than men (17%) to say that it is the women in their household who do most of the barbecuing.

• Individuals from upper (74%) and middle (72%) income households are significantly more likely than individuals from lower income households (54%) to say that it is the men in their household who do the most of the barbecuing. Although the majority of respondents say that it is men who do most of the barbecuing in their household, individuals from lower income households (41%) are significantly more likely than their counterparts in middle (26%) and upper (23%) income households to say women do most of the barbecuing in their household.

• Although the majority of barbecuing Canadians think that men are better barbecuers than women, middle-aged individuals (28%) are significantly more likely than their older counterparts (20%) to think that women are better at barbecuing.

• Women (30%) are also more likely than men (18%) to say that in general, women are better barbecuers.

Most (46%) of barbecuing Canadians say the "quality of the ingredients" is the secret to a great barbecue meal. Twenty seven percent (27%) think that "a great marinade or sauce" is the secret to a great barbecue meal, and 19% say it takes "sheer skill and talent". Only 7% of barbecuing Canadians say the secret to a great barbecue meal is "a top-notch, high quality barbecue".

• Older (54%) and middle-aged (48%) adults are significantly more likely than their younger counterparts (34%) to believe the "quality of the ingredients" is the secret to a great barbecue meal. On the other hand, young adults (35%) are significantly more likely than their middle-aged (24%) and older (21%) counterparts to say "a great marinade or sauce" is the secret to a great barbecue meal; and young adults (25%) are significantly more likely than older adults (14%) to believe "sheer skill and talent" is the secret to a great barbecue meal.

Given a choice of five celebrities, 45% of Canadians with barbecues say they would want Jim Carrey to host a backyard barbecue for them and their friends. In a distant second place is George Foreman (18%), followed by Gwenyth Paltrow (13%), Jamie Oliver (7%), and Nigella Lawson (3%).

• Young (59%) and middle-aged (51%) adults are significantly more likely than their older counterparts (24%) to select Jim Carrey to host a backyard barbecue for them and their friends. On the other hand, older adults (23%) are more likely than their middle-aged (14%) and younger (18%) counterparts to want George Foreman to host their backyards barbecue.

• Women (50%) are significantly more likely than men (41%) to select Jim Carrey to host their backyard barbecue; men (23%) are significantly more likely than women (13%) to say they want George Foreman to host their barbecue.

While 55% of barbecuers say "spending time at the cottage or the beach" is their favourite summer outdoor activity, "barbecuing with friends" is the favourite for 35% of the barbecuing crowd. One in ten (10%) say their favourite summer outdoor activity is "hanging out on a restaurant or bar patio".

• There is no regional or socio-demographic variance in individuals' favourite summer outdoor activities.

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For more information on this news release, please contact:
John Wright
Senior Vice-President
Public Affairs Ipsos-Reid
(416) 324-2900