As most Canadians know when you cross the border into Quebec, French language signs will start popping up everywhere, and you will be more apt to hear ‘Bonjour’ than ‘Hello.’ But language is just the tip of the poutine when it comes to differences between Quebec and Canada overall. In Canada, one size does not fit all.
Historically, Quebec has been settled by immigrants from countries with distinct languages, cultures and ways of life. With their richly ingrained traditions, the populations in Quebec display varying demographic and consumer behaviours compared to the rest of the country.
Quebec has a high number of single-member households, 26% more than the rest of Canada. In fact, single-member households in Quebec have increased almost 2% to 34% of the province’s population, compared with the rest of Canada where single member households have held steady since 2011 at 26.5%. With more single member households, Quebec household incomes spike in lower brackets versus the rest of Canada. Quebec has 21% more households with incomes under $20,000 than the rest of Canada, 30% more with $30,000-$39,000 and 29% more with $40,000-$49,000.
Quebec also lags behind Canada overall in consumer packaged goods (CPG) growth, with an increase of only 1.9% in the last year (52 weeks ending April 2, 2016). Despite the lower incomes and slower growth, Quebec households still manage to be big spenders when it comes to household products, spending on average $8,759 per household on CPG products. This is second only to Alberta where household spending averages $9,490.
With Quebec displaying such different demographics than the rest of Canada, it should not come as a surprise that the brands consumers recommend to others vary as well.
Quebec is the second largest province in Canada, home to more than 8.8 million residents, a number not to be taken lightly. With fierce competition in stores and 23% of the Canadian population living in a province with its own language and traditions, retails and manufacturers would be wise to pay attention to their French consumers’ habits and preferences.
The data in this report is from the following sources:
EquiTrend is based on a total sample of 19,944 Canadian consumers ages 18 and over surveyed online between Dec. 23, 2015, and Jan. 20, 2016. Respondents had the choice to complete the survey in English or French language. The survey took an average of 30 minutes to complete. The total number of brands rated was 777. Each respondent was asked to rate a total of 40 randomly selected brands. Each brand received approximately 1,000 ratings. Respondents were asked their familiarity with brands and rated the brands they were somewhat, very, or extremely familiar with. Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in Harris Poll® surveys. The data have been weighted to reflect the composition of the adult population. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate in our panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. Data were weighted to be representative of the entire Canadian population of consumers ages 18 and over based on age, gender, education, language, region, race and their propensity to be online.