Would you like to leave a tip?” According to our recent poll, the answer depends on who is asking. When asked at which businesses or services it is appropriate to be asked for a tip, a majority of Canadians agree on tipping at restaurants (77%) and salons (60%). The least acceptable places to be asked for a tip, according to Canadians, include a retail store, where only a handful of Canadians believe it is appropriate to ask for a tip (7%), takeout at a restaurant (19%), grocery pickup (20%), and a fast-food restaurants (21%).
Results show the complexity of the tipping decision. Half of Canadians (48%) say it is appropriate to be asked to tip by a taxi but just 39% think it is okay to be asked by ride sharing apps like Uber and Lyft. Similarly, Canadians are also more willing to tip a third-party food delivery service like UberEats (47%) than a ride sharing app (39%)
Tipping at a salon appears to be the only place where men and women disagree on tipping, with 67% of women feeling it is okay to be asked for a tip compared to just 53% of men.
To better understand how tipping varies depending on the business or service, we asked Canadians how much they would tip for good service at a sit-down independent restaurant versus a hair salon or barber, and results show that Canadians are likely to tip more at a restaurant than at a salon/barber. One in four Canadians (24%) are willing to tip 18% or more at a restaurant compared to one in five (19%) willing to tip that much at a salon/barber. A 15% tip is more common at restaurants than a salon/barber (53% vs 45%). Salon and barbershop staff are more likely to receive lower tips, with 23% of Canadians saying they would tip 5% or not tip at all (13%) compared to a restaurant where just 17% would tip 5% and just 6% would not tip at all.
Results are from an online survey conducted in partnership between Narrative Research and the Logit Group. The survey was conducted between August 9 – 10, 2024 with 1,230 Canadians from the Logit Group’s online Canadian Omnibus. Data were weighted based on the 2016 Census, by gender, age, and region to reflect actual population distribution, and data tables are available upon request.
