Canadians’ Recommendations on Services Worthy of a Tip—and Those Not Worth It

A recent survey revealed that most Canadians find a 15 percent tip for good service at restaurants acceptable. However, opinions vary on which other services should receive a tip.

According to an online survey conducted by Narrative Research, Canadians have different views on when it’s appropriate to tip and when it’s unnecessary.

The survey found that 77 percent of Canadians believe tipping at a restaurant is acceptable, while 60 percent think tipping at a salon is appropriate.

Nearly half of Canadians (49 percent) agreed that tipping a housekeeper at a hotel is okay.

Forty-eight percent of respondents said it was acceptable to tip a taxi driver, and they would be willing to leave a tip.

47 percent of Canadians believe that food delivery services are deserving of a tip, and would pay their delivery driver accordingly.

However, only 7 percent of respondents said they would tip at a retail store, making it the least supported establishment for tipping.

Tipping at a restaurant for takeout orders was not widely accepted, with only 19 percent finding it appropriate.

20 percent of respondents said they would tip for grocery pickup orders.

Most Canadians are unlikely to tip at fast food restaurants (21 percent) or coffee shops (38 percent).

39 percent find it appropriate to tip for ride-sharing apps like Uber and Lyft.

37 percent believe tipping for a massage is acceptable.

How Much to Tip

The survey also looked at how much Canadians are willing to tip. 53 percent agreed that 15 percent is acceptable for restaurants, while 17 percent would tip around 5 percent, and 6 percent would not tip at all.

45 percent said 15 percent would be the right amount to tip at a salon, but 23 percent would only tip 5 percent and 13 percent would not tip.

The survey was conducted between Aug. 9 and Aug. 10, with 1,230 respondents participating.

A separate survey in February found that 65 percent of Canadians felt pressured to tip 15 percent, even when they didn’t think it was warranted.

The survey also discovered that 65 percent of respondents tipped because of prompts from card payment terminals, and 62 percent said they left a higher tip than expected due to payment terminal choices.

Jennifer Cowan contributed to this report.