On behalf of Postmedia, Leger surveyed Canadians about their perspectives on Christmas greetings (including whether saying “Merry Christmas” is offensive), from December 9 to 11, 2022.
SOME OF THE KEY HIGHLIGHTS FROM OUR CHRISTMAS GREETINGS SURVEY OF CANADIANS INCLUDE…
The Importance of Religion and Observing Religious Days: 59% of Canadians say that religion, including observing special religious days, is not important in their household today, while 41% say that religion, including special religious days, is important.
Christmas Greetings: 70% of Canadians are more likely to use the greeting, “Merry Christmas” this time of year, while 23% are more likely to say “Happy Holidays”. 70% of Canadians who grew up in a culturally or religiously Christian household disagree that they avoid using the greeting “Merry Christmas” to avoid offending others. Furthermore, 92% of those who grew up in a culturally or religiously non-Christian household disagree that they are offended when people greet them with “Merry Christmas”.
Expanding Public Holidays: 24% of Canadians think the list of public holidays should be expanded to include other religious holidays.
SURVEY METHODOLOGY
- A web survey was conducted among 1,526 Canadians, 18 years of age or older, via Leger’s online panel, LEO.
- The data was collected from December 9 to 11, 2022.
- As a non-probability online survey, a margin of error is technically not reported. If the data were collected through a probability sample, the margin of error would be ±2.5%, 19 times out of 20.
- Using data from the 2021 census, the results were weighted according to age, gender and region, as well as by education and presence of children in the household in order to ensure a representative sample of the population.