A Look Back at 2022 and Worries for 2023

December 24, 2022

THIS SURVEY EXPLORES CANADIANS’ AND AMERICANS’ IMPRESSIONS OF 2022 AND WORRIES FOR 2023.  

The year 2021 was heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, while 2022 has been largely marked by economic concerns, including inflation, interest rate hikes and increasing prices.  

With the year drawing to a close, we surveyed Canadians and Americans to explore whether they feel 2022 was better than 2021, and how they think 2023 will compare to 2022, revealing a tinge of optimism for the year ahead. 

Download the report for the full results.  

This survey was conducted in collaboration with the Association for Canadian Studies (ACS) and published in the Canadian Press. This series of surveys is available on Leger’s website. 

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IMPRESSIONS OF 2022 AND WORRIES FOR 2023 

  • 31% of Canadians and 28% of Americans felt 2022 was worse than 2021.
  • Fewer Canadians (22%) and Americans (19%) think 2023 will be worse than 2022.
  • Even when presented with a list of potential global challenges, Canadians and Americans are overwhelmingly most worried about higher inflation/interest rates/prices and economic recession in 2023.
  • The greatest proportion of Canadians and Americans plan to spend the same amount as last holiday season on food, alcohol, entertainment, hosting and gifts. The exception is travel, on which the greatest proportion of Canadians plan to spend less. 

METHODOLOGY 

This web survey was conducted from December 9 to 11, 2022, with 1,526 Canadians and 1,006 Americans, 18 years of age or older, randomly recruited from LEO’s online panel. 

A margin of error cannot be associated with a non-probability sample in a panel survey. For comparison, a probability sample of 1,526 respondents would have a margin of error of ±2.50%, 19 times out of 20, while a probability sample of 1,006 respondents would have a margin of error of ±3.09%, 19 times out of 20. 

THIS REPORT CONTAINS THE RESULTS FOR THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS AND MORE! 

  • Compared to the last holiday season, how much do you plan to spend this holiday season on the following? 
  • Compared to 2021, taking everything into consideration, how has 2022 been for you?
  • How worried or unworried are you that each of the following will happen in 2023?
  • What are you most worried will happen in 2023?

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