As Canadians spend money on gifts, food and other holiday items as the holiday season approaches, some experts say people are feeling pressured by the increasing percentage of tips as the variety of debit or credit card purchases increases.
Recently, someone took a taxi to the airport and spent 73 yuan, but saw that the tip was at least 20%, and even hinted at 30%, and 70 yuan was to tip 20 yuan, and I didn't know what to do.
"It's a tipping option for a Canadian taxi to the airport, I'm not sure which one to choose, and I'm wondering what tourists coming to Canada think," he said. ”
However, there are exceptions, such as Cathy Khalil, who recently tipped $5 for a $18 box of donuts at a store in Ottawa, but she says she doesn't regret it.
I think when people see [the option on the debit machine], they sometimes feel obligated to tip," Khalil said.
But] I'm not tipping for the sake of tipping. I tip because I want to tip, and it's something I'm willing to give. ”
However, she may belong to Canada's minority, with more than 80 percent of Canadians surveying believe that tipping culture needs to be overhauled.
According to a survey by Montreal-based Decision Lab Research, Canadians are experiencing what is known as "tip fatigue."
About three-fifths of Canadians surveyed feel pressured to tip more, while more than 80 percent say tipping culture needs to be overhauled.
The findings echo a poll conducted earlier this year by the Angus Reid Institute, which found that about two-fifths of Canadians feel pressured to tip, forcing them to exceed the spending threshold.
As the tip percentage amount increases, many Canadians say they would rather not tip at all, and some restaurants agree with this.
The study also found that the percentage requirement is getting higher due to the overabundance of tipping, which has led to a lot of Canadians not eating out as often as they used to.
Consumers aren't just feeling tired," said Bruce McAdams, a professor at the University of Guelph who studies the restaurant industry.
They are also questioning what exactly tip is now, and does it have anything to do with what it meant in the first place? No, not at all. ”
Between January 1, 2019 and January 1, 2023, tips jumped from 16% to 20% on average, according to technology and payment services company Square, which has hundreds of thousands of Canadian business customers.
We want to tip at restaurants, barbershops, food delivery services, but now tipping is required in the wider industry as a sign of "tipping overflow," McAdams said.
Dry cleaners, oil changes, all want to tip," he said. "One day I was in a gift shop and when I had just paid for some candles, they also asked for a tip. ”
The researchers also noted that tipping is where people are biased, and people tip differently depending on the waiter's age, ethnicity, gender, or physical appearance.
Tipping has been shown to be discriminatory and creates inequality," McAdams said. "It can create a divide between the front office and the back kitchen of a restaurant. ”
Another finding of the Decision Lab study was that nearly 75 percent of people they spoke to said they saw it as a sign that the store was underpaying its employees when they were asked to tip.
Many also told Decision Lab that they would prefer Canada to eliminate the culture of tipping, as it does in other countries like Japan.
The Angus Reid poll also found that attitudes among Canadians have shifted following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, with nearly 60% of respondents wanting to eliminate tipping.
But this systemic change can be hard to achieve: CBC interviewed many people who were against tipping, but they didn't want to admit it on camera, mainly because they didn't want to sound cheap and not want to be judged by colleagues and friends.
If we first go back to the original idea of tipping, which is actually a process of gratitude from the customer's heart, this can be a good first step," Borja concluded.