Canadian homes welcomed 3 million pets during pandemic, survey finds
Although there are some differences between provinces, dogs and cats are the most popular pet choice nationwide.
The survey, conducted by Narrative Research on behalf of Pet Valu, concluded that pet owners living in Ontario (37%) and British Columbia/Northern Canada (36%), were more likely to add a new pet to their home during the pandemic than those living in Atlantic Canada (19%).
Although fewer Atlantic Canadians added pets to their home in the past two years, people living in Atlantic Canada are more likely to already own a pet (61%) compared to those in Ontario (53%), Quebec (53%), British Columbia/Northern Canada (54%), and the Prairies (58%).
Atlantic Canadians and Ontarian pet owners are also most likely to own multiple pets with six in ten in Atlantic Canada having two or more pets (58%), compared with over half in Ontario (53%), half in BC/Northern Canada (48%), and four in ten in Quebec (42%).
In Quebec pet owners are more likely to have cats (67%) than dogs (48%), while in the prairies and British Columbia/Northern Canada, the reverse is true. In the prairies and British Columbia /Northern Canada one-half (51%) of pet owners have cats compared to two-thirds with dogs (66% and 65% respectively). In Atlantic Canada and Ontario, the split between dog and cat owners is more even.
Pet beds are a more popular sleeping spot in British Columbia /Northern Canada (36%) and Ontario (33%) as compared to in Atlantic Canada (25%).
The survey, conducted online to 2,000 Canadians, also revealed that more than a third (35%) of pet owners welcome their pets to sleep in their beds.