Money and relationships are the two issues that are more likely to make it harder for Canadians to fall asleep.
Vancouver, BC [January 14, 2020] – Just over a third of Canadians are actually meeting the night sleep guidelines issued by Health Canada, a new Research Co. poll has found.
In the online survey of a representative national sample, 35% of Canadians say their typical night’s sleep on a weekday or workday lasts from 7 to 9 hours—matching the recommendations endorsed by Health Canada.
Almost two thirds of Canadians (64%) say they slumber for fewer than 7 hours on a typical night’s sleep on a weekday or workday.
On weekends, the proportion of Canadians who reach the recommended guidelines of 7 to 9 hours of sleep rises to 45%. However, more than half (51%) still spend fewer than 7 hours in bed.
Across the country, 17% of Canadians claim to be “very well rested” after a typical night’s sleep on a weekday or workday, while 53% say they are “moderately well rested.” Conversely, three-in-ten Canadians (30%) are “not too well rested” or “not well rested at all” on a weekday or workday.
Women (38%), Canadians aged 18-to-34 (35%) and residents of Manitoba and Saskatchewan (34%) are more likely to say that they are usually “not too well rested” or “not well rested at all” when facing a new workday or weekday.
The proportion of Canadians who feel “very well rested” or “moderately well rested” rises to 75% after a typical night’s sleep on a weekend or non-workday.
One-in-four Canadians (25%) say they never find it hard to sleep at night during the course of an average week. More than a third (36%) find it hard to sleep for 1 or 2 days each week, while almost two-in-five (39%) have a difficult time sleeping at least 3 days a week.
Practically half of Canadians (49%) say worrying about money and financial matters made it harder for them to fall asleep at night over the course of the past month.
“Albertans (62%) are significantly more likely to say that they were kept awake by financial concerns than residents of all other regions,” says Mario Canseco, President of Research Co. “Women are also more likely to have lost sleep because of financial matters than men (54% to 43%).”
Almost a third of Canadians (32%) lost sleep at night because they were concerned about relationships and family, while a similar proportion (29%) had trouble sleeping because of health worries.
About one-in-four Canadians (23%) say they had difficulty falling sleep because they were concerned about work—including 41% of those aged 18-to-34 and 3% of Albertans.
Significantly fewer Canadians say domestic politics and issues (6%) or international politics and issues (also 6%) kept them awake at night.
Methodology:
Results are based on an online study conducted from December 18 to December 20, 2019, among 1,000 adults in Canada. The data has been statistically weighted according to Canadian census figures for age, gender and region in Canada. The margin of error—which measures sample variability—is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
Find our full data set here and download the press release here.
For more information on this poll, please contact:
Mario Canseco, President, Research Co.
778.929.0490
[e] mario.canseco@researchco.ca