Social Spending Habits in Canada

Canada’s Most Generous

The citizens of Edmonton have secured the prized tag as the most generous Canadians when it comes to bar culture. More than two-fifths (42.86%) of Edmonton citizens surveyed said they were the most likely out of their friends to be first in the queue for the bar. They aren’t fussed if they’re doing rounds either; they’re happy to make that first big gesture.

The second most generous Canadian city is Windsor, where 41.67% of respondents said they were happy to buy a round first for their friends or family.

At the other end of the spectrum, the citizens of Alberta and southeastern Ontario appear to be the most frugal with their social spending. Less than a quarter (23.61%) of Calgary-based citizens said they were usually first to cover a bar tab. It was lower still (22.22%) among Kitchener-based residents.

As many as one in seven (14.81%) of Halifax-based citizens admitted to hiding up when they know it’s their turn to pay for a round of drinks.

At a national level, more than a quarter (28%) of Canadians said they were happy to fork out for a taxi for their friends and didn’t expect that money back.

Meanwhile, male Canadians (25%) were more likely than female Canadians (18%) to pay a bar tab in full, on the proviso that their friends paid next time.

At a generational level, almost a third (32%) of Gen Z Canadians said they militantly keep tabs on what each friend orders to ensure everyone pays their share. This may be an indication of the squeeze on disposable incomes for young adults in Canada right now, since every cent matters.

How Canadians Split the Bill

What are the attitudes towards bill paying among Canadians in 2024? Is there a deviation in approach between the generations?

In a word, yes. More than half (53%) of baby boomers offer to pay a bit more towards a group bill, especially if they ordered a dessert or an alcoholic drink and others didn’t. However, just over a third (37%) of Gen Z Canadians surveyed were happy to adopt this approach.

In addition, more than a quarter (28%) of baby boomers said they split their restaurant bills evenly between their friends, regardless of who ate or drank what. That’s considerably higher than the 19% of millennials who said they always split restaurant bills equally. Younger diners may be more reticent to pay more than their fair share since they seem to dine out more frequently than older Canadians. 

First date attitudes also differed between age groups. More than half (53%) of boomers said they’d expect and be happy to cover the entire bill on a first date, compared with 39% of Gen Z Canadians. In fact, 44% of Gen Z singletons said they’d expect to split the bill down the middle.

As for regional trends, the people of Hamilton are most likely to expect their date to cover the bill on their first date, with 22% of Hamilton-based citizens taking this stance.

Meanwhile almost half (44%) of eagle-eyed citizens surveyed in Victoria said they keep a close tally on what everyone orders to ensure everyone pays what they owe.

Almost three-quarters (73%) of people in Winnipeg opt to pay individually when dining out with their friends.

Methodology

We surveyed 1,004 Canadians across the country on August 30, 2024 to gauge their views on bar culture, IOUs, bill splitting and much more to determine the latest trends for social spending in Canada. For the full data set, please see here.