Almost half of Canadians plan to abandon social distancing during holiday gatherings and hug, kiss and shake hands with friends and family, a new poll shows.
The poll by Leger in collaboration with The Canadian Press found that 45 per cent of Canadians say they will B次元官网网址済reet others with a handshake, hug or kissB次元官网网址� at Christmas parties and other holiday gatherings.
In Ontario, the number prepared to ditch social distancing over the winter vacation rose to 50 per cent, compared to only 37 per cent in B.C.
Among 18- to 34-year-olds, the proportion comfortable with hugging friends and relatives over the holidays rose to 52 per cent.
Christian Bourque, LegerB次元官网网址檚 executive vice-president, said the finding suggested that Canadians may be becoming complacent about the risk of COVID-19 because they are vaccinated.
Forty-nine per cent of Canadians confessed they were not afraid of catching the virus.
B次元官网网址淐anadians are showing indications that they are relaxing. Now that there is a fifth wave in Europe, Canadians are indicating that they are heading for a holiday season where they will take too many chances,B次元官网网址� Bourque said.
He said he found the findings surprising because, while B次元官网网址渢aking chances is cultural in the U.S.,B次元官网网址� Canadians tend to be more cautious. He said the bold attitude may be due to B次元官网网址淐OVID fatigueB次元官网网址� or because many Canadians now think: B次元官网网址淎ll of us are vaccinated in our house, whatB次元官网网址檚 the problem?B次元官网网址�
At the same time, 81 per cent of Canadians asserted that they would respect all B次元官网网址渞emainingB次元官网网址� safety measures during the holiday season.
The poll of 1,547 Canadians between Friday and Sunday cannot be assigned a margin of error because internet-based polls are not considered truly random samples.
Forty-seven per cent of Canadians say they would ask people if they are vaccinated before inviting them to a holiday party.
And only 35 per cent said they would invite someone who is not fully vaccinated into their home.
More than a third plan to celebrate with more friends and family, though not at pre-COVID-19 levels.
Canadians continue to tighten their belts with 46 per cent saying they had no plans to spend more money over the holidays than last year. Only seven per cent said they were planning to spend B次元官网网址渁 lot more.B次元官网网址�
Little more than a third of Canadians said they were planning to do their shopping at the mall, like they used to, with 42 per cent saying they would stick with shopping online.
Sixty per cent of Canadians would shop around for the best price, and only 22 per cent said they would be prepared to spend B次元官网网址渁 little moreB次元官网网址� to support local retailers.
The poll suggests that Canadians are not flocking to fly to sunny spots during the peak holiday period, despite the introduction of vaccine passports.
Only 18 per cent plan to get on a plane to see friends and family during the vacation and nine per cent have plans to fly to a vacation spot during the holiday.
Seventy-nine per cent of Canadians support vaccine passports, while 21 per cent of Canadians says they oppose them.
While the federal governmentB次元官网网址檚 handling of COVID-19 receives a cautious thumbs up from the Canadian public, confidence in some provincial premiers remains weak.
In Alberta, only 33 per cent of those polled said they were satisfied with the measures that Premier Jason Kenney had put in place to combat COVID-19, while in Saskatchewan, 37 per cent were satisfied with Premier Scott MoeB次元官网网址檚 pandemic action plan.
This compares with 77 per cent of Quebec residents who think Premier Fran莽ois Legault has done a good job fighting COVID-19.
Sixty-three per cent of Canadians say they are satisfied with action taken by Prime Minister Justin TrudeauB次元官网网址檚 government to fight COVID-19.
A third are dissatisfied with the governmentB次元官网网址檚 handling of the crisis.
The poll found that only 51 per cent of Canadians think that the worst of the pandemic is over.
Marie Woolf, The Canadian Press
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