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Leisure in Canada

redirect : Free time in Canada, Hobbies in Canada, Recreation in Canada, Canadian recreation, Recreational activities in Canada, Canadian hobbies, Canadian leisure, Downtime in Canada, Pastimes in Canada, Canadian pastimes, Leisure activities in Canada, Leisure time in Canada, Play in Canada, Spare time in Canada, Relaxation in Canada, Loisirs au Canada, Loisirs canadiens, Temps libre au Canada, Récréation au Canada, Récréation canadienne, Passe-temps au Canada, Passe-temps canadiens, Activités de loisir au Canada

{{Short description|Overview of leisure activities in Canada}}

{{Use Canadian English|date=April 2026}}

<Majority francophone and Quebec localities must be written with their official French names/accented names (ex. Trois-Rivières not Trois-Rivieres, Sainte-Thérèse not Sainte-Therese, etc.). The only exception is Quebec City since it could be confused with its province otherwise. The official names of Indian reservations and Indigenous places must also be respected. When mentioning them, current official names/accented names must be used (ex. Tsleil-Waututh not Burrard, Maskwacis not Hobbema, Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc not Kamloops Indian Band, etc.) >

<Any picture included in this article needs to have been taken in Canada, except for those attached to "Being a snowbird", "Social media" and "Traveling". Remove all pictures who were taken elsewhere.>

<All terminology must be Canadian, not international. For example, Canadians do not say "football", they say "soccer". They do not say "ice hockey", they say "hockey". Therefore, the sports on this page must be called "soccer" and "hockey".>

Two friends enjoying an early fall evening in Bower Ponds, Red Deer, with some blankets, food and a good book.

Leisure is valued in Canada for the pleasure, stress-reduction, health benefits, boosts to productivity and fulfilment it can provide. But, it is often treated as secondary to work, school, chores or job seeking, as Canadian culture highly values work and productivity. Canadians typically view leisure activities as positive activities that are individually chosen, earned after work, and/or must be engaged in during personal time. Since average Canadians only get 10 to 20 paid vacation days per year (among the lowest in the developed world - tied with Japan and Costa Rica), most leisure is enjoyed after work or during the weekend. A Canadian’s mental image of what constitutes healthy leisure tends to lean towards sports and/or outdoor activities. As such, public funding for leisure, which originates from provincial governments and is bestowed onto municipalities, tends to focus on community recreation centres, sports programs and parks, rather than on other activities or certain policy objectives.

The changing of the seasons has a greater impact on Canadian recreation than it does on most other countries in the world. During the warm temperate summers, outdoor activities, summer sports and other summer activities like going to the beach and going camping are popular. But, during the dark frigid winters, physical activity decreases, recreation mostly shifts indoors, and a minority shift to winter sports. For example, 64% of Canadians are inactive in the winter vs 49% in the summer.

Furthermore, in contrast to Canada, Nordic countries view leisure as a right and public good, and heavily fund it. Japanese culture sacrifices leisure more for a demanding work culture (though recent data shows the young may be starting to value it more). Mediterranean cultures have midday breaks and put emphasis on communal leisure. Unlike in Canada, in Middle Eastern countries, recreation has massive gender segregations and is closely tied to religion, family, and socializing. Finally, in many countries (ex. India, the UK, etc.), one's hobbies depend more on wealth or social class than it would in Canada. Canada's leisure landscape is most similar to the US's.

A few recreational activities are almost exclusive to Canada, or more popular here than in any other country. Examples include: curling, watching professional hockey, playing hockey, lacrosse and ringette.

Serious Leisure

A family hikes the Skerwink Trail on the coast of Newfoundland.

Serious leisure is defined as a type of recurrent leisure activity with a higher level of commitment, investment, effort and/or desire to improve involved (ex. playing in a hockey team or drawing). The term was elucidated by Robert A. Stebbins, a professor emeritus of the University of Calgary and Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, alongside his casual and project-based types of leisure. Serious leisure is linked to a large panoply of mental health, social, physical and aging-related benefits. Some studies of Canadians specifically point to forms of it reducing stress and even the effects of seasonal depression. Another benefit of serious leisure is that it allows for the possibility of self-identity outside of work, school, ethnicity, ideology or socioeconomic status (ex. “I am a hiker”).

The most popular of these activities appear to be cooking/baking and hiking, claimed as a hobby by 42% and 44% respectively, as well as exercising, which 65% do at least once per week.

Creative Hobbies

While appreciated in Canada, in general, creative hobbies are not as popular or valued as outdoor activities or sports.

Name	Photo	Information
Arts and Crafts		Arts and Crafts includes a large variety of hobbies like drawing, painting, sculpting, sewing, crochet or crafting. Between 13% and 18% of Canadians reported making any art or crafts at least once in the year of 2016.
Making music		Making music includes singing, playing an musical instrument, and using technology to create music. This is an uncommon hobby in Canada, as in 2016, only 15% of respondents claimed they made music at least once during the whole year.
Photography		Photography is a major hobby of 19% of Canadians according to Faze.
Writing		Creative writing is a pastime of 17% of Canadians according to Faze in 2023. In 2016, 11% of Canadians reported writing creatively at least once.

Outdoor and Physical Hobbies

Outdoor and physical serious leisure offers some of the greatest health benefits of any recreational activity. Many of these hobbies are harder to access with a lower salary due to the cost of equipment, facility access and/or transportation involved. Despite this, only 6.5% of those with an income under $30,000 spent leisure time being physically active vs 9.1% of those on a higher-income, a rather small difference.

Name	Photo	Information
ATVs		All-Terrain Vehicles are small vehicles made to go off road and on trails. In Canada, they are used from spring to fall, and mostly for recreation. While 15% of Canadians reported riding one frequently, according to Parachute, 61% reported riding one at least once in their lives, indicating that most's exposure has likely been through a friend, rental or guided tour. Riding an ATV is the most dangerous leisure activity on this webpage since, on average,100 Canadians per year die of ATV-related accidents, and over 4000 more are injured. Most deadly incidents involved the vehicle flipping over, most dead are men, and half involved alcohol.
Biking/Cycling		Cycling is much less common in Canada versus other countries. Out of Ipsos's 28 polled countries for biking frequency, Canada ranked dead last, with only 16% of respondents riding a bike at least once a week. Furthermore, most Canadians who ride their bike do so for leisure, as there are 7 Canadians who bike for leisure for every 1 person who uses their bicycle for commuting purposes. Several factors play a role in keeping the level of biking low, despite bikes being an accessible purchase. Firstly, the plurality of inhabitants live within North American-style suburbs. So, the urban sprawl make bikes a poor choice for commuting or running erands. Secondly, many Canadian cyclists worry about being safe on the road due to there being very little biking infrastructure and many needing to share space with cars. Thirdly, cyclists often worry about their bikes being stolen (one site's survey cites that 81% of Canadian cyclists got at least one of their bikes stolen). Bike recovery by the police is also rare. Finally, Canadians are adverse to cycling during the winter because roads are icy, slushy or covered in snow, and winters usually last from November to April. Within the country, the activity is most popular in Quebec. The number of respondents who say they bike weekly are 19% in Quebec, followed by 18% in Ontario, 15% in British Columbia, 14% in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, 13% in Alberta, and just 3% in the Atlantic provinces. Quebec also has the most developed bike infrastructure. Most noteworthy are its downtown Montréal bike routes (Montréal has the largest network of high-comfort cycling infrastructure in Canada spanning 360 km), Quebec City’s bike routes (spanning 190 km), the Route verte and the Véloroute des Bleuets. While 61% of Quebec residents and 51% of British Columbians rated their cycling infrastructure as being satisfactory, only 27% of prairie residents rated their infrastructure positively. Starting in the late 2010s, ebikes started getting sold more, but they still remain somewhat niche. In 2022, an estimated 70K ebikes were sold in Canada.
Cross-country skiing or snowshoeing		These 2 winter activities have been slowly gaining popularity. In 2013, at least one person in 4% of households did cross-country skiing and/or snowshoeing at least once during the year. But, by 2021, this had risen to 9% of households. They are more popular in Quebec households, with the noted increase from 2013 to 2021 moving from 8% to 16%, and households outside metropolitan areas, where 14% reported at least one person participating in 2021.
Downhill skiing and snowboarding.		It is estimated that roughly 2.5 million Canadians (6% of the population) purchased at least one lift ticket during the 2024-2025 winter season. The average active skier or snowboarder spends 7.5 days per year skiing or snowboarding, is from a wealthier household (>100K$) and aged 43. Though 14.2% of Canadians over the age of 12 participate, the average age has been increasing in recent years. Finally, the majority of skiers and snowboarders said their motivation was to “do something together as a family”. Downhill skiing and snowboarding are most prominent in BC and Quebec. In 2013, Statistics Canada reported that 6% of BCers and 5% of Quebecers reported going downhill skiing last year, compared to 2-3% for Manitoba, Nova Scotia, and Ontario. The two provinces also accounted for 45% and 24% of all visits to ski resorts respectively. Interestingly, despite fewer visitors than BC, Quebec counted 109 ski slopes, while BC had 77, Ontario 69, Alberta 27, and other provinces fewer than 10. Quebec's more numerous resorts are smaller on average than BC's.
Exercising		In 2024, 65% of Canadians reported exercising weekly, and 38% did so daily. Though it can be difficult to determine if Canadians enjoy exercising or are only doing it to stay in shape, one 2024 survey asked people aged 15+ how they found sport or physical activity in general and 57% said they found it fun, and 30% somewhat fun. So combined, it seems that roughly 87% consider their exercising to have a fun or enjoyable side.
Fishing		In 2015, Canada counted 3.2 million anglers, 79% of which were male, and 42% of which were between ages 45-64. Fishing is quite popular in Newfoundland and Labrador: the resident-angler participation rate was 21% there vs 7.4% for the Canadian average. Fishing culture also varied per province; anglers in the Prairies and the BC interior released 84% of their catch, those in the Maritimes and Quebec retained ~50% of their catch, and anglers in Newfoundland and Labrador retained 79% of their catch, reflecting the Gulf area's more subsistence-oriented fishing history. Overall, walleye was the most predominant species caught nationally, representing 26% of the total catch, followed by trout, northern pike, perch and bass. During the year, anglers spent on average almost 500$ for their fishing trips.
Golfing		In 2023, over 6 million (15% of the population) reported golfing during the year, almost half of which were avid golfers who played over 50 rounds per year. Canada was home to 2,298 public and private golf facilities in 2017, the second largest amount in the world.
Hiking		Hiking is Canada’s most popular outdoors activity. One 2018 Statistics Canada study noted that 44% of respondents hiked on a regular basis. One 2023 Léger national survey reported 72% used trails in the past 12 months.
Horseback riding/Equestrianism		Before the 1900s, horseback riding was a male dominated activity and not recreation because horses were either work tools or a mode of transportation (the NWMP and RCMP, for example, famously rode on horses). But, during early 1900s, horses were outcompeted by technology, and their care shifted to being a recreational activity and something closer to pet care. With the bond with the horse being emphasized, female interest exploded. As the domain gradually feminized and media portrayals reinforced female involvement (ex. pony toys for girls, teen girl horse movies, etc.), males felt socially pressured to avoid it as well. Now, most Canadian horse enthusiasts are female (92.5%), over age 45 (44.6%), have an annual income of >$60K (63.2%), a post-secondary education (81.1%) and are urbanites. In rural areas, horses are still sometimes used as a tool, making the gender difference less pronounced there. Furthermore, in the competitive scene, the gender difference is flipped and men predominate. In 2009, horse owners cared for or rode their horse 2 to 3 days out of the week. The most attended rodeos in Canada are the Calgary Stampede and the Festival Western de Saint-Tite. In 2021, Canada counted roughly 500K horses, down from the almost 1 million estimated in 2010. This was in line with the trend of decreasing horseback riding since the propagation of vehicles. In 2022, Alberta was Canada’s horse capital with 37% of the country’s equines, followed by Ontario (25%) and Saskatchewan (13%).
Hunting		Canada ranks in the top 3 countries with the highest proportion of hunters in the world. In 2015, 2.1 million adults (or 8% of the adult population) hunted at least once. First Nations, Métis and Inuit people were much more likely to hunt than others, with 33%, 35% and 65% of them respectively having hunted at least once in 2017. It has also long been held that most hunters are middle-aged men, even though national data on their demographics is hard to come by. Thankfully, studies carried out in Quebec support this idea; one 2016 survey indicated that Quebec hunters were 88% male and that 65% of them were 45 or older. They also spent a median of 1007$ on hunting-related expenses throughout the year (mostly on transportation and food). Hunting is most popular in Newfoundland and Labrador and in New Brunswick. In 2021, 12% and 9% respectively reported hunting there. By contrast, in other provinces, the participation rates ranged from between 5% and 1%. Almost all hunters are a part of a conservation organization (mostly provincial non-profits who enforce the law, provide hunter training and promote hunting and conservation). Hunting is the main reason to own a gun in Canada: 70% of firearm owners reported owning guns to hunt, while only a minority reported other reasons like for target shooting (18.4%), collecting (7.4%) or protection (4.6%). The most popular prey nationwide is white-tailed deer, followed by moose. Other common targets include: turkeys, caribou, elk, ruffed grouses and spruce grouses, hares, black bears and waterfowl.
Kayaking/Canoeing		A minority of Canadians do recreational boating during the summer months, with the majority of these small boats being rented temporarily. In 2021, 19% of people kayaked or canoed at least once.
Snowmobiling		Riding snowmobiles is an activity that can only be enjoyed when enough snow cover exists in an area, making its season shorter than the length of the actual winter for most citizens. Snowmobiling is much more popular in Newfoundland and Labrador than in other provinces. There, 12% of households reported someone snowmobiling at least once in 2021, compared to the national average of 3%. Unfortunately, snowmobiling can be dangerous; between 2013 and 2019, an average of 73 people, mostly men, died from snowmobile accidents.

Team Sports

Since team sports feature a lot of physical activity and socializing, several sociologists have described them as "optimal leisure". Canadians in general also value sports. Taxes funds the maintenance of various sports venues across the country, the most numerous of which being hockey arenas.

Team Sport	Photo	Information
Curling		Curling was introduced to Canada in the early 1800s by Scottish immigrants. Its introduction resulted in the founding of The Montréal Curling Club in 1807 - the first sporting club of any kind in North America. Remarkably, between 80-90% of the world's curlers are Canadian. There are approximately 700,000 Canadians (or 2.2% of the population) who curl at least once every year, and 284,000 who curl more than ten times annually, all supported by the roughly 965 curling clubs in the country. Curling is also four times more popular among Canadians than in its nearest rival country Switzerland and ten times more popular than among Norwegians or Americans.
Hockey		Canada’s official winter sport was first developed in Montréal in the late 1800s, inspired by European stick-and-ball games. The first organized indoor hockey game took place in 1875 in Montréal, and the McGill University Hockey Club, formed in 1877, was the first organized hockey team. Since then, hockey has grown massively. During the 2024-2025 season, Hockey Canada reported there being over 603K registered players (1.45% of the population), including roughly 115K women or girls. The sport is also supported by 7,860 ice hockey rinks that dot the country. While hockey leads as the sport Canadians are most interested in watching, it often ranks lower than #1 for actual participation. This gap is often attributed to hockey being a relatively expensive sport with a traditionally male-dominated culture. Despite this, since 2022, Hockey Canada has seen a 30% growth in women and girls playing the game. This could be partly explained by the creation of the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL).
Soccer		In 2022, Soccer Canada counted 689,938 registered players (1.66% of the population), 575,768 of which were youth. Soccer has often been the most played team sport for youth due to the low cost of entry compared to alternatives. The sport is also much more popular in immigrant communities; it is the most common sport played for Arabs and second-most for Blacks. Interestingly, children of recent immigrants (in Canada less than 10 years) have lower soccer participation (10%) than children of Canadian-born parents (23%).

Uncommon team sports

There are many more team sports in existence, but most are played by less than 0.5% of the population. Some, however, are noteworthy for being particularly popular in certain communities. Tennis and basketball, for example, are much more likely to be played by immigrants vs native Canadians, who favour winter sports instead. This may be because of the popularity these enjoyed in their home countries.

Others, like lacrosse and ringette, are noteworthy for having been invented in Canada and being played mostly here. Lacrosse, Canada’s official summer sport, was invented by Indigenous people before European contact. The name “lacrosse” was given by Francophones who thought the stick resembled a bishop's crozier. In 2022, there were over 100,000 registered players (0.16% of the population) with Lacrosse Canada. Women were only about 6-7% of total membership.

Ringette was invented in 1963 in North Bay to give girls a competitive winter team sport. Its first game was played by a high school team in 1965 in Espanola. Then, Ringette Canada was founded in 1974. Though it is not super popular, the sport has grown since its inception, almost completely in Canada. As of November 2018, there were over 31,000 registered players (0.08% of the population) on over 2,100 teams across the country (compared to 10K players in Finland and a few hundred in the US). It is a predominantly female sport as only roughly 700 males also participate.

Casual Leisure

Casual leisure is usually defined as a type of recreational activity, recurrent or infrequent, that requires little to no training, effort, commitment and/or investment (ex. listening to music or visiting a museum). It is the most common type of leisure in Canada. Its benefits include offering rapid self-gratification, enjoyment, and/or stress relief.

The top 5 most popular casual leisure activities seem to be: using social media (88% use it at least once during the week), watching shows/movies/videos (73% watch something daily), listening to radio/audio (84% of Canadians 18+ listen to traditional radio weekly), spending time with family (69% do so weekly), and playing video games (53% game regularly).

In Home and Outdoor Activities

In the world of today, a lot of casual leisure involves the use of digital technology. Unfortunately, despite this tech having some benefits, the heavy use of digital devices has been linked to negative outcomes like disrupted sleep, poor posture, a sedentary lifestyle, lower reported life satisfaction, and cognitive decline. High social media use in particular, because of its hijacking of the brain’s reward centre, has been linked to academic struggles and memory or attention issues. Numerous studies also link high levels of social media use with increased symptoms of anxiety and depression, particularly among adolescents and young adults. Video games seem to have more moderate effects, with studies finding that playing video games is not associated with lower mental health, unless the player felt compelled to play. Rural youth were the most likely to engage in these screen-based pastimes.

Activity	Photo	Information
Collecting		Data on how many Canadians have collections and what types of collections they have is hard to come by. But, it seems recognized that a small minority of Canadians collect coins, military memorabilia, art, antiques, pop culture collectibles, stamps and/or cards.
Cooking/Baking		According to a 2024 Statista survey, cooking from scratch for amusement was the most popular hobby in Canada with 41% of respondents noting it as their hobby. One 2024 magazine survey cites a similar 42%.
Daydreaming/Thinking		According to a York study, roughly 96% of people daydream to a certain extent every day, and between 30% and 50% of peoples' day implicates some form of daydreaming.
Drinking		In Canada, drinking alcohol is common and frequently done in the context of social gatherings, parties, dinners, and other get-togethers. In 2023, almost half of all Canadians reported having had at least one drink in the past week. While many drink outside the home, most alcoholic beverages are consumed at someone's house.
Gaming		In 2022, 53% of Canadians reported gaming regularly, averaging 7.9 hours per week. Gaming is especially popular with children as 89% of children/teens reporting gaming regularly vs 61% of adults. Teen boys aged 13 to 17, specifically, have the highest penetration rate of 90%. Penetration is the lowest among women aged 55-64 at 29%.
Gardening		In 2023, 59% of households reported growing plants for personal use. 39% grew plants mostly for ornamental purposes, 27% for consumption, and 34% for both. The popularity of gardening varies by metropolitan area. In 2024, it was most popular in Thunder Bay and Brantford, where 91% and 94% of the population respectively reported gardening. Women were also more likely to be gardening than men (68% vs 57%). Overall, 76% grew plants in their yard, 30% did so on their balcony, 22% inside, 3% in a greenhouse, and 2% in a community garden. But, home owners were more significatnly more likely to garden compared to renters (66% vs 38%). Renters on the other hand were more likely to use a community garden (4% vs 1%), their balcony (50% vs 27%) or an indoor space (31% vs 20%).
Ice skating		In 2021, ice skating was the most common outdoor winter activity since 13% of households across Canada reported that someone in the house ice skated at least once during the winter. Ice skating was also most common in Alberta households (17%) and the least popular in British Columbia (7%).
Listening to radio shows, online audio or podcasts.		Though revenue for commercial radio is on the decline, listening to the radio is still a common activity. Between 2019 and 2020, 84% of Canadians aged 18+ listened to traditional radio at least once during the week, averaging 14 hours per week. In 2023, 80% of English-speaking Canadians and 75% of French speakers streamed audio content every month, or an average of one hour every day. Canadians' most used streaming service was YouTube Music (40% for Anglophones, 43% for Francophones) followed by Spotify (38% for Anglophones, 32% for Francophones). The least popular form of audio streaming was podcasts; in 2025, 46% of Canadian adults listened to podcasts monthly and 31% weekly, averaging 5.5 hours per week.
Playing board games/card games.		According to a December 2023 survey, 25% of Canadians cited board games/card games as one of their most popular pastimes. One survey asking for Canadians’ favourite board game revealed the top 3 as being Monopoly (49%), Scrabble (38%), and Uno (23%).
Pet care		In 2025, 33% of Canadians said they loved to spend their free time on their pets, including taking care of them and playing with them. 58% also preferred to spend time with their pets to relieve stress instead of any alternative like a partner or family member. According to Ipsos in 2025, 59% of all Canadians were pet owners. Pet ownership was slightly more popular with women than men (64% vs 54%) and also decreased with age (while 68% of those under 40 had a pet, only 44% of those over 55 did). According to Agriculture Canada, in 2024, the most widespread pets were cats and dogs: 39% of all households reported having a cat and 38% reported owning a dog. However, cats and dogs were not necessarily the most numerous: first were cats (with a population of 8.9 million), followed by aquarium fish (8.5 million), dogs (8.2 million), birds (2.5 million), small mammals (1.2 million), and finally reptiles (274K).
Reading		In 2024, 43% of Canadian read at least once daily, up 5% from 2023. Furthermore, 45% of readers reported reading between 1 and 5 books in 2024, 29% reading 6 to 11 books, and 19% reading 12 to 49 books. In 2022, Canadian book sales were $998.3 million, similar to the 2018 value of $987.2 million. 52.8% of sales were from Canadian authors.
Sledding		In 2021, 10% of households found a hill nearby to sled on. Sledding was also most popular in Alberta (14%) and least popular in British Columbia (7%).
Social media		In 2025, Canada had 31.7 million social media user identities, representing roughly 79.4% of the country's total population. Out of 2,103 Canadians surveyed in 2024, 88% reported using at least one social media site on a weekly basis. An overwhelming majority of online Canadian adults (95%) had an account on at least one social media platform, with 93% visiting at least one of the major platforms monthly. They spent an average of 2 hours and 21 minutes per day using social media, and were active on an average of 6.83 platforms. In Canada, like in most places, younger generations were more likely to use a higher variety of social media platforms and to use them for longer than older generations. When it comes to platforms Canadians used at least once weekly in 2024, over 67% used Facebook, 54% YouTube, 41% Instagram, 18% TikTok, and 18% X (formerly Twitter).
Spending time with family		A 2024 BookNet Canada study found that 69% of Canadians spent time with family weekly, and 49% did so daily.
Spending time with friends/Socializing		The amount of time Canadians spend with friends on a regular basis has been decreasing since the late 1900s. In 1986, 47.9% of Canadians saw friends on an average day. But in 2022, this proportion dropped to just 19.3%. The average time spent with friends also declined from 5.0 hours per day in 1986 to 3.8 hours in 2022. And this downward trend was seen in all age groups. In 2025, a Statista survey reported that 27% had socializing as a hobby.
Stargazing/Amateur astronomy		Though there is no direct data for how often Canadians stargaze, it is likely to be a common activity as Canada is a large country with many dark areas. In fact, it holds the largest amount of dark-sky preserves in the word. Notable among Canada's preserves are the Mont Mégantic Observatory (the first), Grasslands National Park (the darkest), and Wood Buffalo National Park (the largest). Most Canadian latitudes are suitable to observe the northern lights, though an Expedia survey from 2024 states that 71% of respondents would like to see auroras in their lifetime (meaning 71% have not seen any yet). 1 in 6 Canadians were also in the path of totality of the 2024 solar eclipse. Finally, dark skies drive stargazing or aurora tourism in some locations, like Churchill and Jasper.
Swimming		Swimming for fun is much more popular for minors than it is for adults. In 2018, 6.4% of adults reported that they swam regularly, while a 2025 survey showed that 23% of children regularly swam. According to the CBC, swimming is the #1 physical activity for youth in Canada. As of 2020, there were 5060 publicly-owned aquatic facilities across Canada. However, since most were built before 2000, most are close to the end of their life.
Walking		A 2005 health report states walking was Canadians’ most popular leisure-time physical activity, with 70% walking for fun in the past 3 months. Canadians living in urban environments were more likely to walk or bike for pleasure than those living in rural or isolated communities, who reported more barriers preventing them from partaking in physical activity.
Watching shows, movies and videos.		In 2024, adults aged 25 to 54 watched on average 10.2 hours of TV every week. Teens on the other hand only watched 7 hours each week. Quebec Francophone viewers had the heaviest TV consumption, watching on average 17.4 hours per week in 2025. When it comes to streaming, 73% of Canadians watched streaming content every day. 37% of Canadians also streamed exclusively (no traditional TV at all). The most popular streaming services were Netflix, with 15.4 million adult viewers, followed by Amazon Prime, YouTube, Disney+, Crave TV, and Apple TV+.

Visiting Commercial and Public Spaces

Canadians' most frequented commercial or public spaces for recreation are restaurants, shops, cafés and parks. They are all visited on a regular basis. Other places tend to only be visited a few times a year on average.

Place or Activity	Photo	Information
Amusement parks or Water parks		A 2006 study revealed that in the two years prior, only 29.1% of adults visited an amuseument park or water park at least once. Though there is no official count, business estimates believe there are between 200-230 amusement parks in Canada, including smaller regional parks. Quebec hosts roughly 70 (or 30%) of them, making it the province with the highest amount. When it comes to water parks, Canada can count 38 indoor water parks and 33 outdoor ones. Operations are usually limited to the warmer months, since most are outdoor and/or tourist-dependent. The most visited outdoor amusement park is Canada's Wonderland, followed by La Ronde. The most visited indoor amusement parks are Galaxyland, Méga Parc and Legoland Discovery Centre Toronto.
Bowling alleys		Bowling alleys have been a part of the Canadian leisure landscape since the early 1900s. Five-pin bowling, a style invented in Toronto in 1909 by Thomas F. Ryan where 5 pins are used and they are either worth 2, 3 or 5 points depending on their placement, is the dominant style across the country. It is popular only in Canada. However, tenpin is also played occasionally, as well as a few other variants in some regions like duckpin in Quebec and candlepin bowling in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. In 2013, roughly 2 million Canadians bowled each year. As of 2023, there were 589 bowling centres in the country.
Cafés		In 2019, Canadians were among the biggest caffeine consumers in the world. On average, 72% of adults drank coffee on a daily basis. Though most drank in the morning and at home, 3 out of 10 cups were drunk in an outside establishment. Two thirds of the population also visited a coffee shop at least once a month. According to a MacLeans survey in 2017, the most loved chains for coffee was McDonald's, followed by Second Cup, Starbucks and Tim Hortons.
Family entertainment centres (FECs)		FECs are private entertainment centres targeted at minors and families. They usually contain a variety of activities, like: trampolines, arcades, play structures, foam pits, climbing walls, go-kart tracks, ninja courses, mini-golf, laser tag, VR attractions, food services, and/or birthday rooms, among others. 2019 data by IAAPA shows that North American families visited FECs between 3.2 and 4.6 times per year on average. FECs are likely most frequented by teens, since they brought in the highest revenue in 2022.
Festivals		In 2016, 31% of Canadians over 15 attended at least one festival during the year. In 2010, factors that increased the odds of someone going to a festival were: having a higher education (53% with a bachelor’s vs 21% with a high school diploma), having a higher household income (51% for those >$150K vs 28% for those >$20K), residing in a large urban centre (39% for urbanites vs 29% for others), and/or being a francophone outside of Quebec (46% vs. 35% for majority anglophones). Those less likely to go were those who had physical or mental difficulties, as well as the elderly (only 26% of those 65-74 compared to between 41% and 48% for other age groups). Some festivals are regularly attended by over one million people like the Festival international de Jazz de Montréal, Caribana, the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE), the Festival d'été de Québec and the Calgary Stampede.
Gambling		Lottery tickets are the most popular form of gambling in the country. In 2018, 60% of Canadians reported gambling at least once every month, with 13% buying 1 to 3 lottery tickets every week. The average Canadian also gambled $6.75 per month. Only 3% spent over $100 per month. In 2025, certain groups were more likely to gamble than others: men (68.8% of men vs 60.4% of women), people from higher income households (71.5% from higher income homes vs 53.8% from lower income homes) and indigenous people. Notably, minors gambled much less than adults in 2016, with only 10% of adolescents gambling with real money in the past three months.
Historic/Heritage sites		In 2016, 50% of Canadians visited a historic site at least once during the year. The top 4 most visited national historic sites between 2022 and 2023 were the Fortifications of Quebec (1,7 million visitors), Lachine Canal (1,2 million), Rideau Canal (838K) and Halifax Citadel (773K).
Libraries		In 2010, 56% of Canadians visited a public library at least once during the year and 62% had a library card. In 2010, libraries provided over 8500 computer stations and 540 Wi-Fi connections for public use, which were used 18 million and 3.2 million times respectively. If including school and academic libraries, Librarianship estimates there were 360 million visits to any library in Canada during 2010.
Movie theaters		Between 2020 to 2025, the popularity of going to see a movie at the movie theatre dropped by an average of 46%, meaning that the average Canadian only went to the theatre 1-2 times per year. Older people, especially the 65+ cohort, saw the biggest decrease, falling 76%. People under 35 were the most likely to buy a movie ticket. Finally, it seems moviegoers' most preferred genres were superhero movies or action films.
Museums		In 2017, 42% of Canadians who planned a visit to a museum were aged 35 to 54 and almost 60% visited a museum more than once per year. There are 3,474 museums in Canada, most of which are in Ontario (788) and Quebec (506). Montréal is the city with the highest number of them in the country, with 81, followed by Toronto's 78 and Winnipeg's 43.
Parks (national, provincial or urban)		Urbanites are the most likely to visit parks in Canada. One 2023 report found that 64% of urban residents went to a park 2–3 times per week, and 29% went every day. Distance from a park also has a big impact. In 2021, 35% of households reported visiting a nearby park more than once a week. Of the 91% of households who lived within a 10-minute drive of a park, 85% had visited at least one during the previous year, while only 67% reported visiting at least one that was over 10 minutes away. Municipal parks are widely appreciated for their health benefits; 90% of respondents in a 2024 survey stated parks helped their mental health the year prior, while 95% considered them positive for their physical health. Despite this, 80% of cities reported not having a big enough budget to cover their parks' operations in 2024. Canada possesses 48 national parks, at least 1202 provincial parks, and tens of thousands of municipal parks. The top 4 most popular national parks of all (as of 2022-2023) are Banff (4.1 million visitors), Jasper (2.4 million), Pacific Rim (1.2 million), and the Saguenay–St. Lawrence Marine Park (1.1 million).
Stores (shopping)		Though shopping only for necessities regularly occurs in Canada, a certain amount of Canadians also enjoy shopping for fun (aka "retail therapy"). Exact data, however, can be difficult to ascertain. One 2023 consumer lifestyle survey found that 59% of respondents go shopping for leisure at least once monthly. While one 2024 study reported that 66% shopped recreationally at least once per week. It is likely that changes in the wider economy and culture affects how many shop for fun and how often across time.
Restaurants		While 40% of Canadians visited restaurants for utilitarian purposes in 2019, 52% stated their reasons were related to leisure, like for pleasure, a desire to socialize or for special occasions. In 2019, 54% ate at a restaurant or got take-out at least once a week, while only 8% hadn't in the last month. The most popular meal was dinner, and those most likely to visit were families with children (nearly half went multiples per week). Industry data estimated there were roughly 61K restaurants in 2024.
Volunteering		Between 2018 and 2023, the prevalence of volunteering at least once during the year had decreased slightly from 79% to 73%. The amount of hours volunteered across the country also fell from 5.0 billion hours to 4.1 billion hours. During this time, the top 10% of volunteers always accounted for 61% of the volunteer hours. Women, adults aged 25 to 34, and people without a high school diploma had the largest declines in the rate of formal volunteering.
Zoos, Aquariums or Botanical gardens		Businesses who kept live organisms for display were visited by 42.3% of Canadians 15 or older at least once per year according to 2010 data and families were the most likely to visit. There appears to be somewhere between 144 and 178 zoos in Canada, including small and regional zoos or animal centres, the most visited of which is the Calgary Zoo, followed by the Toronto Zoo. There are ~53 aquariums (including those that sell animals), and the most popular is Ripley's Aquarium of Canada, followed by the Vancouver Aquarium. Finally, the most visited botanical gardens appear to be the Butchart Gardens and the Montréal Botanical Garden, as they both claim to welcome over 1 million visitors each year.

Following Professional Sports

According to a 2025 CBC survey, over 75% of Canadians considered themselves sports fans. 29% described themselves as "big fans" and 48% followed multiple leagues. The most popular league of all was, of course, the NHL, followed by the NFL. Most Canadians watch professional sports on TV (via broadcast or cable) or via streaming. Highlights are often shared on social media. All professional sports are more popular with men, with the gender difference being the least pronounced with hockey.

Professional Sport	% who Follow in Canada (2019)	% who Follow all games (2019)	Notes
Hockey	59%	17%	Hockey is undoubtedly the most popular sport to watch in Canada. Vividata reported in 2025 that Canada had 16.5 million hockey fans, 66% of which identified as "super fans". NHL fans also had an average age of 46 and 44% are women. Fans were patriotic: a 2025 survey found that 71% of Canadian hockey fans will cheer for any Canadian team to win the Stanley Cup. The 2024 Stanley Cup Final, which featured the Edmonton Oilers, set a record as the most-watched program ever on Sportsnet, with Game 7 reaching 15 million Canadians. In 2024, Hockey was most popular in Alberta (44.7% follow it closely), Quebec (37.9%), and Atlantic Canada (37.7%). The lowest interest provinces were British Columbia and Ontario, where only 24.3% followed hockey. Finally, immigrants were 76% less likely to be NHL fans. Despite the PWHL having only been founded in 2022, in 2024, nearly 3.7 million Canadians are already PWHL fans (25% of the NHL's fanbase).
Olympics	49%	22%
Football	43%	24%	According to a 2025 TSN survey, 37% followed the NFL (American-style football), and 32% the CFL (Canadian Football League).
Baseball	32%	13%	Canadians who love baseball follow MLB. Within that league, Canada only has one team: the Toronto Blue Jays. Because of their good performance, during the 2025 playoff run, 39% Canadians were following the team closely, and this rose to 49% in Ontario and 53% in Toronto specifically.
Tennis	25%	15%
Golf	22%	11%	Golf fans primarily watch the PGA Tour.
Basketball	21%	15%	Canadians who love basketball watch NBA competitions.
Soccer	21%	33%	Canadian fans follow either the Canadian CPL or the American MLS.
Auto racing	15%	30%	Fans of racing in Canada watch F1 racing.
Martial arts	5%	19%	Fans of martial arts split their attention between the MMA and UFC leagues.

Project-Based Leisure

Project-based leisure is defined as a one-shot undertaking that requires planning or effort and that is not intended to develop into a recurrent activity (ex. a 3 week vacation). These projects can provide mental health benefits through a sense of accomplishment, creative expression, skill development and/or social connection.

Name	Photo	Information
Being a Snowbird		Snowbirds are typically older adults or retirees who leave Canada for weeks to months between November and April to spend part of or all of the winter in a warmer place. Many do not simply live there, but also join an elder community where they socialize with peers and engage in many hobbies. Evening club activities can include things like dances, bingo, and themed nights. Physical activities like swimming, tennis, pickleball, biking, and golf are popular. There are also workshops like art classes, yoga, walking groups and gardening. Finally, many also enjoy doing DIY work on their temporary accommodations and visiting the surrounding area, especially to go to the beach, restaurant, local markets, festivals, parks or tourist attractions. One Ontario-based study indicated that 2.6-3.3% of people over 65 were snowbirds over the past 10 years. If applied to all of Canada, this rate would result in 208K-264K snowbirds over age 65. However, Snowbirdadvisor claims a much higher estimate of 1 million snowbirds. In 2020, the most popular destination according to a survey was Florida (50% head there), followed by Arizona (20%), California (8%) and Mexico (6%). It appears most who choose Arizona were from Western Canada. In 2025, an online survey revealed a 15% decline in snowbirds going to the US, likely due to statements made by the US government, the trade war, heightened travel restrictions, and/or the low value of the CAD dollar.
Camping		Camping's popularity is always growing in Canada. In 2023, 6.3 million Canadian households camped, which is a 29% increase from 4.9 million in 2019! Tent camping is the most popular type with 3.01 million participants, followed by glamping/cabins (1.47 million) and RV camping (1.43 million). North American campers typically take 1 to 3 camping trips annually, spending an average of 6.7 nights a year camping, usually during the summer months. Though camping is popular across all age groups, it is most popular among 25 to 34 year olds who constitute 26% of campers all by themselves. In terms of camping location, in 2023, most campers preferred to camp at a privately owned campground (31%) or on private land (20%), but provincial parks (18%), national parks (12%) and municipal campgrounds (4%) were also favoured destinations. Only 4% camped on other forms of public land and only 5% engaged in wilderness or backcountry camping, despite Canada's vast wilderness. Lower income households were about half as likely to go camping as higher income ones.
Going to Summer camp		According to the Canadian Camping Association, there are over 600,000 children and youth who attend Canadian summer camps every year (roughly 14% of minors, or 1.45% of the total population). They employ approximately 30,000 staff, roughly 90% of whom are Canadian. They represent a $1 billion industry and it is estimated that there are over 1000 summer camps.
Traveling		Despite the lower number of vacation days accorded to Canadians in comparison to other developed countries, a significant number of Canadians describe travelling as their hobby, from 35% according to Ottawa Life to 36% according to Faze.

History

Pre-1850s

Micmacs relaxing and socializing in a traditional encampment.

Anthropological evidence, oral history and early accounts by explorers indicate that after Indigenous people were done meeting their basic subsistence needs (ex. hunting or fishing), they had a substantial amount of time for recreational pursuits, especially during the winter. All groups liked socializing, spending time with family, storytelling, music, dance, swimming, canoeing, feasts, communal hunts, and archery, among others. Indigenous people also created many sports and games all over Canada. One widespread game was called shinny and it served as a direct inspiration for modern hockey. Two other popular ones were snow-snake, a game where wooden darts had to be slid as far as possible on snow, and hoop and pole, where a hoop was rolled and players tried to knock it over. Some sports were more specific to certain groups. The Iroquois created and played lacrosse, a game they believed to have spiritual significance. Inuits played one-foot high kick and knuckle hop, games to improve their flexibility and become better hunters. Blackfoots played line tag, where a line of children held hands and a child at the end of a line had to tag the one at the front without the line breaking. Waltes was a dice-and-bowl game popular with Mi'kmaqs. Finally, lahal was a large complex game played in Western Canada.

Canadiens riding on a horse-pulled sleigh for fun during the winter.

From the 1600s to late 1700s, 3 New France colonies were formed in the eastern parts of Canada: Canada (New France), Acadia and Terre-Neuve. The amount and kind of leisure available to its habitants was highly dependent on nature's rythms. From May to October there was a lot of outdoor work to be done before sunset, like farming or fishing. But from November to April, aside from household chores and chopping trees for firewood, the rest of the day was free. So, winter was the main recreational season. Among other things, the habitants would ice skate, visit neighbours, socialize, spend time with family, go on sleigh rides, play cards, bowl, and more. The men could go to taverns or inns to drink, smoke, fraternize and play billiards. Almost 50% of Canadiens were literate (though at the time literacy was only defined as being to sign one's name), so a few enjoyed reading for pleasure. However, books were rare since they needed to be imported. Lastly, shows, music and theatre were also highly appreciated despite bans from the Catholic Church. The first theatre play shown in New France was in 1606 in Acadia.

By 1763, the British had conquered all 3 New France colonies, with the last holdout being Canada, and began importing English settlers. The new anglophone population followed almost exactly the same recreational patterns as the Canadiens and Acadians always had. There are only 2 addons of note. First was the development of the temperance movement by certain anglophones due to the influence of Evangelical Protestantism. They criticized alcohol consumption and tried to redirect people towards other pastimes. Second was the importation of British elitism. Among other things, it created Gentlemans' Clubs for upper class English men. They imported some sports from Britain like horse races and cricket. But since the wealthy English elites were not interested in making these popular with common people, the French Canadian majority saw these as only as the sports of the British occupiers, and the middle-class anglophones as sport for the "old country" elite, among other reasons, there was no widespread adoption of them by the population.

One would have to wait until the mid 1800s for a wave of radical changes to come to Canada.

1850s-1940s

Starting in the mid 1800s, industrialization came to Canada and with it a migration from agricultural to factory jobs. Unlike in agriculture, there was no natural difference asserting itself in the workload between the seasons. Therefore, the men working them often up working extremely long hours - on average 70 hours per week. This eventually triggered the Nine Hour Movement, Canada's first worker's rights movement. Several large strikes occurred, which, though were unsuccessful in securing a 9 hour workday, did pressure the first prime minister, John A Macdonald, to legalize trade unions in the Dominion of Canada that year. Afterwards, workers continued to fight for shorter work days, organize and strike. Workers eventually got their hours of work per day down to 8. Child employment gradually became banned across the country and their presence at school enforced. Workers also fought to instate Labour Day in 1894. Finally, religious lobby groups managed to get no work on Sundays legislated starting in 1907.  

An orchestra playing at Sohmer Park in 1890.

Industrialization did not only limit free time and trigger worker's rights struggles. It also paved the way for the creation of massive commercial entertainment ventures like amusement parks, fair, circuses and more that wouldn't have been possible or profitable before. After all, cities were now densely populated, boasted modern amenities (ex. trains, electric lights and radio), and home to workers with a regular salary instead of a farm. Among the first to be organized were the Canadian National Exhibition - called the Toronto Industrial Exhibition at the time - in Toronto in 1879, the Sohmer Park amusement park in Montréal in 1889, and the Pacific National Exhibition (today Playland) in Vancouver in 1910.

As industrialization pulled people to the city, their children were often left to play in the streets. This alarmed some since the city streets could be dirty, crime-ridden, and prone to the spread of disease. A recreation movement emerged wishing to not only offer children a safe place to play, but also a place to go to prevent them from being idle and potentially causing mischief or crime. The National Council of Women of Canada (NCWC) took up this issue and campaigned for the creation of playgrounds to municipal governments. In 1906, the first public playground in Canada, the Allison Ground Playground, was established in Saint John, mostly due to Mabel Peters being both one of the women who started the movement and a local council member. New playgrounds then rapidly continued to be built across the country in the early 20th century.

Similarly, in the 1890s, the YMCA pioneered youth camping to remove children from the city and try to build their character through nature, arguably creating Canada's first summer camp, Big Cove, in 1889. The scouting movement, founded in England in 1907, quickly made its way to Canada in 1908 when three Boy Scout troops established themselves almost simultaneously in Merrickville, St Catharines and Port Morien. The first Girl Guides unit was formed in St Catharines in 1910. Both spreading so rapidly that national associations were formalized within years.

Also, starting in the mid 1800s, literacy rates increased, and periodicals, magazines and newspapers spread country-wide as their prices became affordable for the average person. However, literacy rates remained much lower for francophones and would continue to lag until the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s.

The Montreal Snowshoe Club.

During 1850s-1860s it became fashionable in North America to form local sports clubs. This was due to influence from Victorian culture, which believed that organized sport was good for your character and health, as well as authorities wanting to control street matches and wild bets in their ever growing cities. Like the still extant Gentlemans' Clubs, these local sports clubs were closed organizations reserved for men who's goal was for its paying members to socialize and enjoy themselves. But unlike them, they were populated by the anglophone middle and working class. The first one was the Montreal Lacrosse Club in 1856. At first, watching a sports club's matches was either free or required an invitation. But between the 1870s and 1890s, things changed. More and more regular people began to attend these club matches. It was a fun live experience, the club's wins felt like a cultural victory for all city residents, matches could feature local celebrities in action, and it was accessible escapism.

So many people came to watch that the clubs decided to start renting out larger venues and sell tickets. They also started to pay players to retain talent or attract talent. The US baseball team the Cincinnati Red Stockings was the first to go totally professional in 1869, living off ticket sales and paying players, and their International Association (1877-1880) was the first to begin recruiting teams in Canada to their league. Starting in the 1880s, teams begin constructing custom arenas made to welcome thousands of paying spectators to their matches. Journals of the time began publishing dramatic statistics and analyses about the leagues, further popularizing them.

During the era of open leagues (the 1870s to 1890s), there were sometimes teams from smaller cities (ex. Guelph's baseball team) who would go bankrupt in the middle of a season, messing up the calendar and leading to financial loses. Teams could also invade "the territory" of another and steal their fans. Finally, the teams of large wealthy cities had so much more money to pay off players that smaller teams couldn't keep up. To solve these issues, between the early 1900s and 1930s, many leagues became closed. They made teams follow a fixed calendar, stay within a certain territory, and share income to stabilize revenue. Players also became tied to one single team and a salary ceiling was set. And so, modern professional sports was born.

The newly minted Montreal Canadiens team during the 1912-1913 season. They were originally a francophone team.

When it comes to professional hockey specifically, starting in the 1860s, skating became a common activity in cities, with the first interior lit skating rinks being created like Victoria Skating Rink of Montréal in 1862. This paved the way for to the creation of hockey, a game inspired by both European and Indigenous stick and ball games. The first game was organized in 1875 by James Creighton at the Victoria Rink. The first official team quickly formed: the McGill University Hockey Club in 1877. Until the 1910s, the creation of hockey clubs, the discrete paying of athletes, and rivalries between cities or anglophones and francophones sparked competition. This culminated into the invention of the National Hockey Association (NHA) in 1909. However, since the NHA was an open league, it was unstable as owners compete economically. So, in 1917, all owners except one founded the NHL, a closed league which cartelized professional hockey into a stable monopoly.

From the mid to late 1800s, railways were all the rage. One of the earliest, the Northern Railway, connected Toronto to Gravenhurst in 1875. Though settling Muskoka had been legalized, the ground there was not suitable for farming. So, wealthy people built cottages there to visit seasonally. Similarly, starting in 1894 in Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts and its surroundings, railways to the Laurentians attracted summer tourists. Some wealthy people from Montreal, Ottawa, Quebec City and even the US established their own cottages there. By the 1920s, tourists even came during the winter. This marks the start of cottage culture in Canada as well as the seasonal regional tourism economies they support.

People camping after having returned from a hunting trip in the Rockies of Alberta in 1910.

Following Confederation in 1867, British Columbia decided to join Canada in 1871 on the promise of a railway connecting it to Central Canada being built. In 1883, as the CPR railway was almost completed, workers stumbled upon hot springs on the eastern side of the Rockies. To prevent private development and create a scenic attraction for riders, the company lobbied for federal protection, leading to the creation of Banff National Park in 1885, Canada's first national park and the world's third. Banff's quickly lead to new parks being created in the West, such as Glacier, Yoho and Waterton Lakes. The success was brought East, with the first national park east of the Rockies being Thousand Islands in 1904. Finally, in 1911, the world's first national parks service, Parks Canada, was established under the name of the Dominion Parks Branch. This marked the beginning of the democratic, safe and equal access of Canadians to nature, as well as outdoor culture being a part of Canadian identity. It also lead to the popularization of camping, at first informal and on the side of the road, then in designated campground lots with basic amenities starting in the 1920s.

The CPR railway was also used to populate the prairies with settlers. The open prairie made ranching profitable and soon resulted in rodeos being organized for entertainment, to romanticize their lifestyle. The first public one took place in Raymond in 1902 and the largest today, the Calgary Stampede, officially began in 1912. Rodeos also eventually spread East, with the largest, the Festival Western de St-Tite, being founded in 1967.

In the late 1800s, the phonograph was invented then sold, which, for the first time ever, allowed people to listen to recordings of music!

Similarly, moving pictures, arguably the most influential form of entertainment in the 1900s, were introduced to Canada with a showing of the cinématographe on June 27, 1896 in Montréal, mere months after their invention by the Lumière brothers on December 28, 1895. The first showing in English Canada quickly followed on June 29, 1896 in Ottawa. These first movies were in black and white, silent, a bit blurry and had a low frame rate. By the early 1900s, traveling exhibitors brought films everywhere, even rural areas. The first permanent movie theatres, called nickelodeons, opened as soon as 1906 and quickly became beloved since they were very affordable, especially compared to alternatives like plays. However by the 1920s, nickelodeons had been replaced by movie palaces, bigger establishments which aimed to "transport visitors to another world" with their oriental or egyptian decor and by showing longer movies. They also became a place to socialize. Showing movies with sound ("talkies") started in 1928, and by 1932, became the norm. Most of the movies Canadians' watched were from Hollywood, which dominated the movie industry worldwide in the 1900s. Though Hollywood knew they needed to dub their movies in languages besides English to ensure their continued domination, French dubs in Quebec only became the norm by 1943.

Due to the slow-burning temperance movement coming to a head, most provinces enacted a prohibition of alcohol in 1915 or 1916, ending it a few years later. The only exceptions are PEI, whose prohibition lasted from 1901 to 1948, and Quebec, who essentially had no prohibition due to only banning spirits in 1919 for roughly a year. Under prohibition, people could enjoy alcoholic beverages recreationally anywhere legally. Bars and saloons (in the west) were forced to close and the drinking that did occur was at private residences or in illegal speakeasies - often found in hotels or the backs of restaurants or stores. Many would also travel to neighbouring “wet” areas where alcohol was still available. For example, many Ontarians found prohibition more of an inconvenience than a ban, since they would just travel to Quebec to drink.

In the 1920s, cars were largely owned by the middle class and above, and there would be only one for the whole family.

During the Roaring 1920s, installment plans and credit became widely available. This debt, combined with the optimism in the country following the end of WW1, fueled spending. People were more likely to purchase cars, radios, phonographs, and other goods for leisure since they didn't need the full cash upfront. More cars led to more travel and more travel infrastructure. After the first radio broadcast in 1920 in Montréal, radio sets flew off the shelves. Radio would be quickly utilized by the NHL and other professional sports teams to create a loyal fanbase across the country. Also, women began to gain more free time in the 1920s due to the appearance of several new electric appliances like the dishwasher, washing machine, and others. Women started wearing less restrictive clothing and to smoke and drink alcohol publicly, pushing back against social restrictions. However, all this debt eventually led to the stock market crash of 1929, ushering in the the Great Depression of the 1930s in Canada. During the Great Depression, high unemployment rates, especially in the prairies due to agricultural failures, led to most cutting back on non essential expenditures like leisure or entertainment. Participation in local sports teams, dances, listening to the radio, informal games, social gatherings as well as meeting at community halls, playgrounds or parks all became more popular because these activities did not require significant expenditures.

1950s-2010s

Newfoundland, previously its own British colony, joined Canada in 1949 due to financial difficulties. Before then, for most residents, commercial leisure was hard to come by, especially for those who lived in small isolated towns on a coast called outports. Leisure activities were generally informal, seasonal (fishing slowed or stopped in winter) and related to community traditions and religion. Activities included kitchen parties with music, singing and dancing, storytelling, and crafting . Newfoundland was not considered a very modern society at the time, so, Canada invested. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, the federal government built recreational infrastructure and hundreds of kilometers of roads to link towns to larger settlements. This made travelling and organized leisure more popular. The CBC also absorbed the local broadcaster and broadcast mainstream content, popularizing mass media. Finally, Newfoundlanders also became eligible for receiving Canadian welfare, allowing many lower income families to have more disposable income.

In the 1950s, it was time for television to take Canada by storm. Television broadcasts officially began on September 6, 1952 when the CBC's Montréal station began regular bilingual broadcasts. In 1952, the country counted 146,000 television sets, and this had grown to a staggering 2.3 million by 1956. By 1965, television ownership reached 92% of households - exceeding the prevalence of telephones, automobiles and even bathrooms. All TV broadcasts were in black and white until the first coloured TV broadcast on July 1, 1966. Following this, black and white was gradually fazed out over the next ten years.

Movie palaces and Hollywood, which had been the main provider of video entertainment until then, were pressured to adapt to the competition caused by television. Many movie palaces eventually evolved into movie theatres, which were smaller, simpler, and showed almost exclusively new Hollywood movies for a few months before their wider release to the public.

A 1972 photo meant to entice tourists to golf during their stay in Kenora.

From 1953 to 1957, annual attendance at national parks increased by more than 1.5 million! To capitalize on the increasing demand, the RV industry began in the 1960s, with companies like Winnebago and Jayco producing RVs for everyday people.

In the 1970s, the audio format to listen to music shifted to cassettes tapes.

As the video game industry first appeared and grew throughout the 1980s and 90s, young Canadians took to video games as a pastime, first in arcades and then increasingly at home with home consoles and portable consoles.

In the 1980s, VHS tapes became available and popular; these analog tapes not only allowed people to watch the TV shows and movies recorded on them whenever they wanted, but also to record broadcasts for later viewing.

In the 1990s, the Internet first appeared, first as Web 1, then as Web 2. Starting in the late 1990s, the Internet, was becoming more and more popular among regular people. Though it was especially dominated by young people under 25 and its use was more common in high income households. The first forums, memes and messaging apps appeared during this period and became very popular with youth.

During the early 2000s, CDs overtook VHS for playing music, and DVDs did so for viewing videos. During the decade, CDs and DVDs would be the most popular formats to enjoy media. They would also constitute the last forms of physical media and rapidly decline in usage in the early 2010s.

Computer programs revolutionized certain forms of leisure by increasing the artists' options, making them more familiar with computers and occasionally tying them to company's subscription model for access (though this would mostly only come later in the late 2010s). For example, music composers and remixes could use music software. Photo editing software came into existence, such as Photoshop, allowing photographers more options and ease. Artists could now draw digitally and create animations more easily (ex. Flash). 3-D modelling software also developed, opening up possibilities for animating in 3-D (in fact, 3-D animation became the dominant form by the 2010s), as well as the creation of 3-D video games. Coding video games evolved from the 80s to 2020s, growing from a highly specialized skill to being something that even someone with little coding ability could do with software like RPG maker or Unity Engine.

In 2005, YouTube was founded, eventually becoming one of Canadian's - and especially minors' - main source of video entertainment.

Following the 2008 financial crisis, spending by Canadians on culture and recreation decreased, especially in activities relating to socializing, the arts, and in volunteering. The popularity of physical activity however continued to increase.

The Suncor Community Leisure Centre on an October morning.

In 2009, the Suncor Community Leisure Centre, also called Fort McMurray's Living Room, was opened to provide recreation for the oil city's swelling population. It is to this day the largest recreational centre in the country, occupying over 41,000m² of space, and featuring very diverse amenities.

In the early 2000s, TV channels were already beginning to lose some of their audience to pay TV and specialty services. However, conventional TV's decline truly happened in the 2010s. All throughout the decade, many Canadians, especially the younger ones, began "cutting the cord", in other words ending their cable or telecom subscriptions. Many would replace this subscription with a streaming service. The societal shift from TV to internet-based entertainment has had the result of moving Canadians away from having a shared appointment programming culture to an highly on-demand and personalized experience being the norm.

The introduction and normalization of smartphones from the late 2000s to early 2010s massively affected recreation. For example, its introduction of apps allowed people to carry and use programs anywhere. It also paved the way for social media to become dominant. In the early 2010s, Netflix's direct streaming model became dominant, resulting in massive pressure on mainstream media and Hollywood to adapt or die.

In 2018, smoking cannabis recreationally became legal for all adults in Canada, following acts in 2016 allowing it to be used medically.

2020-Present

In the 2020s, attending professional sports matches is a luxury for the average person. This one features the Senators vs the Sabres.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the frequency of social activities both at home and in outside establishments decreased, while recreational screen time reached record levels. The top 5 weekly activities in 2020 reflect this high amount time spent indoors: 92% watched videos, 87% listened to music, 86% cooked, 84% browsed social media or the web, and 77% spent time with family. Interestingly, time spent reading did not increase. But, 63% tried new hobbies during this time, with 31% trying new video games or board games, and 29% trying cooking/baking, making those the most popular. While visits to parks fell during the initial lockdowns in 2020, interest bound up in 2021 and people were likely to vacation in both local and remote parks. The higher interest appears to be a permanent change, as there are still more visits to parks and interest in outdoor activities even after the pandemic. For example, there were 6.3 million Canadian households camping in 2023, marking a 29% increase from 4.9 million in 2019.

During the pandemic, many Canadians got used to watching new movies at home on streaming platforms. This, combined with high prices and theatres no longer showing many of the blockbuster franchises of the 2010s, may be causing the decline of movie theatres; in 2024, Canadians purchased an average of 1.6 film tickets in 2024 vs 3 tickets in 2019.

Domestic tourism increased during the decade, first as a result of the pandemic, then by deteriorating Canada–U.S. relations starting in 2025 with the trade war. The summer of 2025's tourism produced record breaking numbers, with 89% of Canadian regions posting year-over-year growth.

See Also

• Sports in Canada
• Cycling in Canada
• Recreation in Toronto
• Media in Canada
• List of festivals in Quebec
• Gambling in Quebec
• Public holidays in Canada
• Canadian art
• National Parks of Canada
• Tourism in Canada
• Leisure industry
• Leisure satisfaction