Canadians are really, really bad at taking vacation days, according to a survey

Oct 19 2016, 10:08 pm

Dear Canada: take a vacation already.

Canadians received an average of 17.3 vacation days from employers this year, but only took 14 of them, according to a new survey released by Expedia.ca. That represents 31 million unused vacation days and $5.5 billion in wages going back to employers.

So basically when you don’t use your vacation days, you feel run down AND your employer profits. Great.

Beyond that, 27% of Canadians go an entire year or more without taking a vacation, with another 36% going six months plus without a break.

When Canadians do vacation, however, they share it on social media. Around 43% of responders say it’s “very important” to upload photos of their vacations as a form of validation.

Seriously, they said they share the photos because it “validates their experience.” And fair enough – if a tree falls in a forest and there’s nobody around to hear it, blah blah blah.

Ironically, even though the vacation days are dangling right in front of them, over half of Canadians say they’re “vacation deprived.”

When the survey was conducted in late August, 10% of Canadians say they hadn’t taken any vacation days at all this year.

Millennials, once again debunking stereotypes of being the entitled generation, are largely to blame for not taking vacation days. Most of the younger Canadians surveyed – that is, the 18 to 34 crew – don’t take their vacation days because they’re too busy at work.

So what’s the moral of the story here? Take your vacation days. There’s nothing noble about running on fumes, y’all.

Lauren SundstromLauren Sundstrom

+ News
+ Venture
+ Opinions
ADVERTISEMENT