Canadians slowly breaking the bad habits they developed during COVID-19 lockdowns, poll suggests

Vancouver -

After admitting to overeating, and drinking more booze at the beginning of the pandemic, a new poll suggests the public is slowly, but steadily changing its behaviour at home.

The survey by Research Co. found a four per cent drop in people who admitted to overeating, since July. But it also found more than one-in-five still do it.

Drinking more than usual at home is down ever so slightly, a drop of one per cent.

Those who said they have been showering or bathing less often, is also down.

“There was a moment when we had roughly one and six Canadians saying, ‘I’m not brushing my teeth, why bother?" said the polling company president Mario Canseco. “Which is something that would be unthinkable if we were in an office setting. Of course you’re going to brush your teeth, of course you’re going to show up after having a shower.”

Canseco said the survey may indicate Canadians believe the pandemic is far from over, and are looking for hints of normality.

The Research Co. poll also found 68 per cent of Canadians believe a vaccine passport is a good idea.

The online poll surveyed 1,000 Canadian adults from September 25 to 27, 2021. The data has been statistically weighted according to Canadian census figures for age, gender and region. The margin of error, which measures sample variability, is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, nineteen times out of twenty