Busy work schedules are making it difficult for Canadian to use up all their vacation days, according to a new survey, which found that Canadians will collectively accumulate close to 10 million unused vacation days this year alone.
The results -- released this week by Expedia.ca as part of its annual "Vacation Deprivation" survey -- showed while Canadians are entitled to an average of 17 vacation days a year, up from 16 days in 2014, they're only taking 15.5 of them.
The top three excuses for leaving vacation days on the table include:
- Work schedules make it challenging to plan a vacation (32 per cent)
- Saving for other obligations, such as a house, or paying off debt (29 per cent)
- Busy personal and family schedules (24 per cent)
Bev Cadham, of the Canadian Mental Health Association, said more Canadians are increasingly feeling pressure to stay on the job.
"People are wearing too many hats in this day and age to keep their businesses going," she told CTV Atlantic. "It makes it very difficult to take time away from work."
Cadham added that often when Canadians do take time off, they're overwhelmed with work when they return to their jobs.
"You're inundated when you get back, so you're removing yourself and then the stress level is right there when you get back two-fold," she said. "So I think, sometimes, people find it easier to not to take extended periods of vacation."
Under the Canada Labour Code, Canadians are entitled to at least two weeks (10 days) of paid vacation. After six consecutive years with the same employer, they’re entitled to three weeks vacation.
The European Union, meanwhile, guarantees at least 20 days of paid vacation per year, with some countries requiring up to 30 days.
The survey of 1,001 Canadian adults was conducted between Sept.11 and Sept 22 by Northstar on behalf of Expedia.ca, and is considered accurate plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
With a report from CTV Atlantic
