Torn on tipping: Canadians divided about where to drop extra cash
It’s no secret that Canadians have strong opinions about tipping and according to a new survey, folks are quite selective about where they want to spend those few extra dollars for good service.
Results from a recent Narrative Research poll found that the majority of Canadians (77%) think being asked to tip at restaurants and salons (60%) is acceptable.
A significant number of respondents (49%) also said they felt it was appropriate to be requested to tip from hotel housekeeping.
Narrative Research
Canadians also felt strongly about the least acceptable places to tip. Only 7% said they felt it was okay to be asked to tip at a retail store.
However, there appeared to be a slight uptick in Canadians who agreed that being asked to tip at take-out restaurants (19%), for grocery pickup (20%), and at fast-food restaurants (21%) was okay.
Torn on tipping
When it comes to tipping for transportation, nearly half of Canadians (48%) said they felt it was acceptable to be requested to tip by a taxi; however, that number dropped slightly to 39% for those who felt it was appropriate to tip for rideshare like Uber or Lyft.
More respondents (47%) said they’d be more willing to tip for a food delivery service instead of a ride-share app.
Narrative Research also took the places seen as the most acceptable to tip at (restaurants and salons) and asked participants how much they would be willing to spend on gratuity at those establishments.
Narrative Research
Nearly one in four (24%) said they were more likely to tip 18% or more at a restaurant, while only 19% said they’d tip the same at a salon or barbershop.
Most Canadians (53%) agreed they’d tip 15% at a restaurant over a salon or barbershop (45%).
Hair services in general receive lower tips, as over one in five (23%) respondents said they would likely tip 5% or not at all (13%) at a salon or barbershop. In comparison, only 17% of Canadians said they felt comfortable tipping 5% at restaurants and 6% said they wouldn’t leave a tip.
Canadians ready to get rid of tipping
It appears many Canadians also feel strongly about getting rid of tipping for good.
Survey data released in June by Lightspeed Commerce Inc. found that Canada was tied with Belgium for countries feeling the strongest about eliminating the practice of tipping altogether. Compared to customers in other regions, over one-third (34%) of Canadian customers agreed with this sentiment.
Last year, a report from the Angus Reid Institute found that most Canadians preferred a “service included” model, which would scrap gratuity in exchange for higher base wages for service workers.
Narrative Research’s recent survey was conducted in partnership with the Logit Group. It polled 1,230 Canadians from the Logit Group’s online Canadian Omnibus from August 9 to 10.