Most Canadians believe the country is in a recession and prices will continue to rise for the foreseeable future, according to a new survey.
A wide-ranging survey by Leger asked Canadians and Americans about topics including travel plans, airport delays and inflation.
More than 80 percent of Canadian respondents said they believe prices will continue to rise, with 59 percent saying they believe Canada is in an economic recession.
That’s probably not good news for economists or business owners, Leger Vice President Andrew Enns said.
“It’s kind of an indirect question about how you feel about the economy,” he said.
“Between that and rising inflation and tightening household budgets, that’s probably not going to be a big push for consumer spending.”
The picture was equally bleak south of the border, where 64 percent said the United States is in a recession, while 19 percent said they didn’t know. But only 66 percent of Americans believe prices will continue to rise, and 16 percent said things are starting to get better.
what people are reading
The online survey was completed by 1,538 Canadians and 1,002 Americans between July 8 and 10. It cannot be assigned a margin of error because online surveys are not considered truly random samples.
Flight cancellations, delays and long lines have 53 per cent of Canadian respondents concerned about airport travel, while 43 per cent said they are not concerned and only three per cent said they are not aware. of the problems.
An equally small proportion, 4 percent, said they were unaware of the long lines and delays in obtaining passports, likely evidence of how prominent both topics have been in the news in recent months.
A new survey suggests that more than half of #Canadians are concerned about problems at #airports. #Pandemic #Inflation
Despite the many news stories about passport delays, less than half of Canadians surveyed said they were worried about the problem, while 50 percent said they were not.
“I think to really be stuck with that problem, you have to have an upcoming trip and you probably have to look at the expiration date on your passport as well,” Enns said.
More than half of Canadians who responded to the survey said they plan to travel within their own province, and another 28 percent said they will travel within Canada. Just over a quarter said they will be heading abroad, with 16 percent of travelers going to the US.
American respondents were not asked about the passport issue, but 45 percent of them said they were worried about travel issues. Another 13 percent said they were not aware of the problem.
Only 18 percent said that led them to significantly change their vacation plans. People under 35 were more likely to say they were changing their plans and were also more likely to be planning to travel abroad.
Enns said that number, almost one in five, will not sit well with the tourism sector.
“If you’re the tour operator, you run the bed and breakfast or the resorts, and we finally have our first summer where we’re free and COVID-free, you’re probably not excited to see some of these stories,” he said.
There seems to be general agreement on what the problem is, with 68 per cent of Canadians and 54 per cent of Americans saying they believe staffing shortages are to blame.
But 38 percent of American respondents say it’s the airlines that are short-staffed, while 43 percent of Canadians think it’s the airports themselves.
A similar proportion, 18 percent in Canada and 17 percent in the US, blamed government restrictions on COVID-19.
People from the prairies were more likely to believe that pandemic rules are the problem, and people from Atlantic Canada and Quebec were more likely to blame airports.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on July 12, 2022.