More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
A new poll suggests that many Canadians are feeling some extra stress this holiday season, and are already planning to make things easier by starting their shopping ahead of time.
The poll from the Angus Reid Institute, published on Thursday, found that 35 per cent of respondents indicated that they had begun shopping earlier than usual, while 59 per cent said they did not change their behaviour.
“Either driven because they're hearing about supply issues or because they are have experienced it or are experiencing it, we do see a significant number of Canadians who say that they're starting their Christmas shopping earlier than they would,” Shachi Kurl, president of the Angus Reid Institute, told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview.
“That process is already underway. Of course, what we don't know is the extent to which it might further exacerbate or drive supply chain issues.”
Holiday shoppers are already having a tough time finding what they want. Forty-nine per cent of in-person shoppers are having at least some difficulty tracking down items, and about 40 per cent of online shoppers.
Many Canadians are choosing to cut back: 30 per cent of respondents said they would be spending less this season.
“When you're worried about how much groceries are costing at the moment or how much a litre of gas has spiked or other staples and everyday items are increasing in their cost, Christmas shopping is … just one more stressor,” Kurl said.
The poll also found that 53 per cent of Canadians are feeling more emotional stress this year compared to most, while 41 per cent are feeling more financial stress than other years.
Kurl said several factors -- including the pandemic and emerging COVID-19 variants, labour shortages, and flooding in B.C. and Atlantic Canada -- could be playing a part in the increased stress levels among Canadians this holiday season.
The poll also found that 38 per cent of respondents are feeling the same emotional stress as other years, while 45 per cent are feeling the same about of financial stress. Just seven and 12 per cent of respondents reported less emotional and financial stress, respectively.
The also poll found that women and people in the lowest income bracket were feeling the most vulnerable to holiday stress.
“For many lower-income households, this has been a more stressful time of year on many fronts,” Kurl said.
“Households across the country are experiencing … some amount of emotional stress at the end of two years of uncertainty around the pandemic and living through that, and then for many households -- depending on their income -- it also has to do with the extent to which they're feeling stressed out financially.”
Meanwhile, Quebec was the least stressed region of the country with just 42 per cent of respondents indicating they are more emotionally stressed than usual, and 33 per cent indicating they are more financially stressed than usual. Quebec is the only region in Canada with less than half of respondents indicating that they are more emotionally stressed than normal.
The Angus Reid Institute conducted an online survey from Nov. 26 – Nov. 29, 2021 of a randomized sample of 2,005 Canadian adults, all of them members of the Angus Reid Forum. For comparison purposes only, a probability sample of this size would carry a margin of error of plus or minus two percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
An orca whale calf that has been stranded in a B.C. lagoon for weeks after her pregnant mother died swam out on her own early Friday morning.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
Devastating tornadoes tore across parts of eastern Nebraska and northeast Texas Friday as a multi-day severe thunderstorm event ramped up in the central United States, injuring at least three people.
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Donald Trump's defence team attacked the credibility Friday of the prosecution's first witness in his hush money case, seeking to discredit testimony detailing a scheme between Trump and a tabloid to bury negative stories to protect the Republican's 2016 presidential campaign.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.