A third say worrying about relationships and health made it harder for them to fall asleep in the past month.
Vancouver, BC [November 25, 2022] – Most Canadians are unable to match Health Canada’s recommended sleep guidelines, and half are finding it harder to rest every night because of financial anxiety, a new Research Co. poll has found.
In the online survey of a representative national sample, 50% of Canadians acknowledge that worrying about money made it harder for them to fall asleep at night over the past month, up seven points since a similar Research Co. poll conducted in May 2021.
One third of Canadians say concerns about relationships and family (33%, +1) and health (also 33%, -3) make it more difficult for them to fall asleep at night. Fewer Canadians lost sleep over work (28%, +4), Canadian politics and issues (10%, =) and international politics and issues (10%, +1) over the past four weeks.
“Two-in-five Canadians aged 18-to-34 (40%) are losing sleep because of employment concerns,” says Mario Canseco, President of Research Co. “Fewer Canadians aged 35-to-54 (33%) and aged 55 and over (14%) share the same experience.”
Health Canada guidelines recommend sleeping from 7 to 9 hours a night. Almost two thirds of Canadians (64%, +4) are sleeping fewer than seven hours on a typical weekday or workday.
Only 35% of Canadians (-3) say they are sleeping anywhere from 7 to 9 hours on a typical weekday or workday. On a regional basis, Quebec is first (40%), followed by Atlantic Canada (39%), Alberta (36%), Saskatchewan and Manitoba (31%), Ontario (also 31%) and British Columbia (28%).
Across the country, 43% of Canadians (-3) are sleeping anywhere from 7 to 9 hours on a typical weekend or non-workday, while 50% (-1) are spending less time in bed.
Almost seven-in-ten Canadians (69%, -1) are “well rested” after a typical night’s sleep on a weekday or workday, while 76% (+1) feel the same way after a typical night’s sleep on a weekend or non-workday.
One-in-four Canadians (25%) claim to “never” find it hard to fall asleep at night on an average week—a proportion that rises to 31% among men and 33% among those aged 55 and over and 29 per cent of Quebecers.
Results are based on an online study conducted from November 18 to November 20, 2022, 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 +/- 3.1 percentage points, nineteen times out of twenty.
Find our data tables 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