“Christmas” or “Holiday Season”? Canadians embrace the traditional option
[December 13, 2013] – A new public opinion poll from Angus Reid Global indicates 92 per cent of Canadians surveyed in English Canada think of this time of year as “Christmas” instead of the “Holiday Season” (8%).
A majority of Quebecers surveyed (59%) also choose “Christmas”, but a split is noticeable, with 41 per cent instead preferring to call this time of year the “Holiday Season”.
The poll, conducted this week, surveyed 1508 adult Canadians.
It reveals that a preference for the traditional term for this time of year isn’t necessarily based on strict adherence to the Christian religion.
More than 90 per cent of all Canadians surveyed said they will spend this month visiting friends and family and having Christmas dinner, but less than a third (27%) said they will attend a regular religious service. A commanding majority of all Canadians surveyed (60%) also said they will donate food or money or gifts to a charity or a food bank that helps the poor at some point this month.
There is also agreement between both English and French Canada when it comes to whether this time of year skews too much towards religion or commercialism. 83 per cent of Canadians surveyed feel the way our country celebrates December 25th is too commercial, while only 13 per cent feel the celebration is too religious. There is no significant difference in responses from Quebecers versus the Rest of Canada on this question.
Full Report, Detailed Tables and Methodology
On December 10th 2013, Angus Reid Global conducted an online survey among 1,508 Canadian adults who are members of the Angus Reid Forum. The margin of error – which measures sampling variability – is +/- 2.5%.
