A new online poll by INNOVATIVE of 2,390 Canadians shows no decline in the number of social activities Canadians are engaging in. The share of Canadians who engaged in modest and moderate risk activities are steady since March at 74% and 42% respectively. More Canadians report in engaging in more risky activities in the last week than in March, with 15% now saying they gathered with a small group inside a home. Outdoor group visits are also up slightly from 19% to 22%.
Canadians report fewer visits to businesses affected by lockdowns such as restaurant (down from 26% to 23%), made a trip to a salon (down from 16% to 12%), or went to a gym (down directionally from 9% to 8%) in the last week. While these are still above the lows for each business type we saw in January, they are down from highpoints in March.
However, other types of non-grocery and pharmacy shopping remains high with 61% making at least one shopping trip in the last 7 days, 11 points higher than early January and 18 points higher than last March.
Canadians are taking precautions when they have social contacts. Roughly 9-in-10 say they wash their hands, keep 2 metres distance and wear a mask most or all of the time. These numbers are near or at record highs.
When we group Canadians together into clusters based on how many activities they do a week and how often they report engaging in protective behaviours, we find that a slim majority (51%) are either just staying home, or are both staying home and nearly always taking every precaution. This is steady since March, but down from where it was in January and February.
Overall, despite the increasing cases in most of Canada, Canadians have not changed their behaviour from where it was in March. While business closures are reducing some contacts, they haven’t impacted social gatherings.
For more detail on Canadians behaviours, check our full report here.
