TORONTO - An online survey of more than 1,500 people across Canada finds 55 per cent plan to take a vacation this summer.
The Leger Marketing poll, conducted last week and released Friday ahead of the Canada Day long weekend, found the average spending target for those who do plan to vacation in July or August was about $1,700.
Respondents from Alberta had the highest vacation budget, averaging nearly $2,300 while Quebec residents had the lowest spending target, at just over $1,300.
Canada was the preferred destination for 74 per cent of those planning a vacation while the United States accounted for most of the remainder.
The online poll was conducted last week for CIBC, one of the country's big banks.
"It is great to see that so many Canadians are planning to explore Canada this summer by spending their vacation dollars here at home," said Colette Delaney, an executive vice-president at CIBC.
The survey was conducted from June 18 to 20. A national poll of this size is considered accurate to within 2.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
Breakdowns of results by province or demographic group are less accurate because of a smaller sample size.
Canadians in the three Prairie provinces were most likely to say they planned a summer vacation — 82 per cent of those in Alberta and 88 per cent in Manitoba and Saskatchewan.
Most other regions were in a range between 76 per cent (Ontario and British Columbia) and 78 per cent (Quebec).
About 77 per cent of respondents in Atlantic Canada said they planned a summer vacation.
In Alberta, the average spending target was $2,270. The averages were lower in British Columbia ($2,147), Manitoba-Saskatchewan ($1,707), Ontario ($1,757), Quebec ($1,321) and the four Atlantic provinces ($1,389).
© The Canadian Press, 2013