It seems that on average Canadians do not take advantage of all the vacation time their employment allows.
A new survey found that if you added up all the unused vacation days, it would amount to almost 10-million unused vacation days.
The survey is commissioned by Expedia.ca, an online travel provider. It’s called the Vacation Deprivation Survey and has been conducted annually since 2003.
It found that Canadians have an average of 17 vacation days, but take only 15.5 days.
The survey, from September 11-22, polled 1,001 Canadians over 18 years of age, employed or self-employed.
No vacations at all !
Not only were many Canadians not taking their full allotment of vacation days, but the survey also revealed that more than one million Canadians have not taken a vacation in over 15 years and more than 1.4 million Canadians have never been on a vacation in their lifetime.
For nearly a third of Canadians (32%) work schedules topped the list of reasons for leaving vacation days on the table, followed closely by saving for other obligations such as a house, tuition, or paying off debt (29%), and personal and family schedules ranked third at 24 percent.
As pointed out in previous surveys, even on vacation, a high percentage of Canadians have trouble “disconnecting” from work and friends.
Six out of 10 Canadians stay connected by checking their personal emails while on vacation. Almost half stay connected through calling and texting their family and friends.
As expected, the top tech tool Canadians take on vacation is their smartphone (67 per cent), followed by a little over a third taking their laptops (38 per cent) and tablets (36 per cent) on vacation.
“Over the years, we’ve noticed some recurring reasons as to why Canadians aren’t taking full advantage of their allotted vacation time. Commonly, it’s because things such as looking after family and focusing on their careers have taken priority,” said Beverly Beuermann-King, stress and wellness expert, who has been associated with the program since 2003. “And, while investing in our jobs and families is important, so is investing in our physical and mental wellbeing. In fact, taking time off for yourself can often result in improved relationships with others and greater productivity.”
While Canadians take an average of 15 days vacation per year, in several European countries such as France, Spain, and Denmark, the average is 30 days per year.
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