Long Weekend Survey Reveals Who Spends the Most/Least, Who Travels the Longest, and Which Long Weekend is Canada's Favourite

In a survey developed by the country’s top-selling Canadian-made vodka, Alberta Pure ^TM Vodka, some 2,000 people weighed in to voice their opinions about one of Canada’s greatest summer traditions – the long weekend.

“This survey certainly indicates that Canadians’ long weekend preferences vary from province to province,” says Ginny Homewood, Maxxium Canada Brand Manager for Alberta Pure ^TM Vodka. “It’s also promoting a long weekend favourite amongst all Canadians, Alberta Pure Vodka, and its new packaging redesign.”

Canadians’ favourite long weekend

The nation-wide survey revealed that 31% of Canadians favour the Canada Day weekend, with Labour Day weekend coming in a very close second with 30% of the votes. The least favoured among the summer long weekends is the Victoria Day weekend which received only 14% of the votes.

Defining a pure Canadian weekend

Barbequing and getting outdoors tied for the most coveted long weekend activity. Vodka cocktails ranked the next most important activity of a summer long weekend. The least favourite activity selected by respondents was watching television/movies.

“We also know from previous research we’ve done that drink preferences vary from province to province,” Homewood adds. “For example, cola is the number one vodka mix of choice for Albertans. No other province shares that taste preference. The vast majority of provinces prefer to mix orange or cranberry with their vodka.”

Who spends what

On average, Newfoundlanders spend the most money on their long weekends, with 38% of respondents from Canada’s most easterly province saying they spend more than a $1,000 on a single long weekend excursion. Other big spenders include the Yukon (60%) and British Columbia (37%) whose residents said they spend between $500 and $1,000 on their long weekend outings. The most thrifty long weekend spenders come from Manitoba (55%), PEI (44%) New Brunswick (44%) and Ontario (39%) where the majority of respondents said they spend less than $200 on each long weekend getaway.

Who travels the furthest

The vast majority of Canadians (75%) travel via car to get to their long weekend destination. Most respondents (28%) said their commute time was three to four hours. Some 33% of people from (PEI) spend the most time (more than six hours) traveling to their long weekend destination (followed by NFLD at 23%) while people from Yukon spend the least amount of time (40% spend less than 1 hour) on their long weekend commute.

How people spend their long weekends

Most Canadians (30%) prefer to spend their long weekends at a cottage or cabin with 29% preferring to stay at home. Only 17% of respondents said they prefer to spend their long weekend camping. Staying at a hotel (9%) was the least popular choice among respondents.

Favourite Canadian city to spend the long weekend

Vancouver was ranked as the favourite Canadian city in which to spend a summer long weekend, with 18% of the total votes. The city that ranked number two, Toronto, received only half as many votes (9%). Montreal ranked a close third with 8% of the popular vote.

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