A wide-ranging survey by Leger asked Canadians and Americans about issues such as travel plans, airport delays and inflation.
More than 80 percent of Canadian respondents said they believe prices will continue to rise, and 59 percent say they believe Canada is in an economic recession.
That’s probably not good news for economists or business owners, said Leger vice president Andrew Enns.
“It’s kind of a proxy question for how you feel about the economy,” he said.
“Between that and rising inflation and tightening household budgets, that’s probably not going to encourage much consumer spending.”
The outlook was equally bleak south of the border, where 64 percent said the U.S. was in a recession, while 19 percent said they didn’t know. But only 66 percent of Americans think prices will continue to rise, and 16 percent said things are starting to improve.
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 polls are not considered truly random samples.
Flight cancellations, delays and long lines worry 53% of Canadian airport travel respondents, while 43% said they were not concerned and only 3% said they were unaware of the problems.
A similarly small percentage, 4 percent, said they were unaware of long lines and delays in obtaining passports — a possible testament to how prominent both issues have been in the news in recent months.
Despite the many news stories about passport delays, less than half of Canadians surveyed said they were concerned about the issue, while 50 per cent said it was not a concern.
“I think to get caught up in this issue, you either have to have a trip and you probably also have to look at the expiration date on your passport,” Enns said.
More than half of Canadians surveyed said they plan to travel within their province and another 28 percent said they will travel within Canada. Just over a quarter said they would head overseas, with 16 percent of travelers going to the U.S.
American respondents were not asked about the passport issue, but 45 percent of them said they were concerned about travel issues. Another 13 percent said they were unaware of the problem.
Just 18 percent said it caused them to significantly change their vacation plans. People under 35 were more likely to say they were changing their plans, and also more likely to plan to travel abroad.
Enns said that number – almost one in five – would not match the tourism sector.
“If you’re the tourism operator, you’re running the bed and breakfast or the resorts, and we’re finally having our first summer where we’re free and clear of COVID, you’re probably not going to be thrilled to see some of these stories. ” he said.
There appears to be general agreement on what the problem is, with 68 per cent of Canadians and 54 per cent of Americans saying they believe staff shortages are to blame.
However, 38 percent of American respondents say the airlines are short-handed, while 43 percent of Canadians believe it’s the airports themselves.
A similar percentage — 18 percent in Canada and 17 percent in the U.S. — blamed government COVID-19 restrictions.
People from the prairies were more likely to think pandemic rules are the problem, and those from Atlantic Canada and Quebec were more likely to blame airports.
