Canadians spending less time with friends, especially those of working age: StatCan

A Statistics Canada report says Canadians are spending less time with friends than ever, with the decline sharpest among the working-age demographic.

The new data show that in 2022, only 19.3 per cent of Canadians saw friends on an average day, down from 47.9 per cent in 1986.

The questions to those in the survey specify socializing as in-person with family and friends, separate from communicating using technology such as phone, email, or social media.

The report says the sharpest drop was recorded for people between 25 and 64 years of age, where the likelihood of seeing a friend on any given day fell from 42 to 14 per cent in the 36-year period.

Canadians between 15 and 24 years old also saw the likelihood of spending time with friends on an average day fall by more than 30 percentage points during that time, although younger people remain the most likely to have the interactions at 41 per cent in 2022.

Statistics Canada says the trend coincides with a rising number of Canadians worrying that they are not spending enough time with friends and family, with more than 46 per cent of respondents feeling that way in 2022, versus just under 34 per cent in 1992.

The report also shows Canadians in 2022 feel the most "pressed for time" since the early 1990s when data collection began, with almost a quarter of respondents saying they feel such pressure when compared with 15 per cent three decades earlier.

Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang