Nearly 60% of Canadians plan to participate in Halloween, according to new poll

Nearly six in 10 Canadian residents say they will participate in Halloween in some way on Saturday night, but Torontonians seem to be the scaredy-cats of the bunch, according to a new poll.

Only 48 per cent of Toronto residents surveyed said they planned to give out treats or go out on Halloween night; the lowest across the regions surveyed and five per cent less than last year.

The Canada Pulse Insights poll for CityNews found Surrey, B.C. had the most enthusiastic bunch, with 65 per cent of people saying they would partake, followed closely behind by those in Alberta, 63 per cent in Calgary and 62 per cent in Edmonton.

In Vancouver and Metro Vancouver, their taste for treats increased the most with 10 per cent more residents saying they would take part in the spooktacular holiday over last year, up to 56 per cent and 59 per cent, respectively.

Fifty-seven per cent of those in the GTA, not including Toronto, will be dressing up or heading out for trick-or-treating.

Across all regions, parents with children under 18 had the highest Halloween spirit, with between 76 to 85 per cent of residents saying they would participate.

Young adults between 18 to 34 were also likely to head out for Halloween, with 65 per to 79 per cent saying they would be participating.

Those planning for a night out on the town for Halloween will have an extra hour to celebrate with Daylight Saving Time (DST) on Sunday morning.

This release draws on Canada Pulse Insights surveys of adult residents in three markets, each asking this year the same question in the same words: Toronto (n=510) and the GTA outside Toronto, the regional municipalities of Durham, York, Halton and Peel (n=825), between Sept. 14 and 25, 2026, Calgary (n=401) and Edmonton (n=383) between Sept. 30 and Oct. 9, 2026, and three British Columbia regions — Metro Vancouver (n=1,374: the City of Vancouver, Surrey and the rest of Metro Vancouver), Vancouver Island (n=511) and the Okanagan Valley (n=498) — between Sept. 28 and Oct. 14, 2026, through an online panel platform managed by Sago.

The margin of error for comparable probability-based random samples of the same sizes is ±4.3 percentage points for Toronto, ±3.4 for the GTA outside Toronto, ±4.9 for Calgary, ±5.0 for Edmonton, ±2.6 for Metro Vancouver, ±4.3 for Vancouver Island and ±4.4 for the Okanagan Valley, 19 times out of 20.

Nearly six in 10 Canadian residents say they will participate in Halloween in some way on Saturday night, but Torontonians seem to be the scaredy-cats of the bunch, according to a new poll. Only 48 per cent of Toronto residents surveyed said they planned to give out treats or go out on Halloween night; the  Canada, Local 

Nearly six in 10 Canadian residents say they will participate in Halloween in some way on Saturday night, but Torontonians seem to be the scaredy-cats of the bunch, according to a new poll.

Only 48 per cent of Toronto residents surveyed said they planned to give out treats or go out on Halloween night; the lowest across the regions surveyed and five per cent less than last year.

The Canada Pulse Insights poll for CityNews found Surrey, B.C. had the most enthusiastic bunch, with 65 per cent of people saying they would partake, followed closely behind by those in Alberta, 63 per cent in Calgary and 62 per cent in Edmonton.

In Vancouver and Metro Vancouver, their taste for treats increased the most with 10 per cent more residents saying they would take part in the spooktacular holiday over last year, up to 56 per cent and 59 per cent, respectively.

Fifty-seven per cent of those in the GTA, not including Toronto, will be dressing up or heading out for trick-or-treating.

Across all regions, parents with children under 18 had the highest Halloween spirit, with between 76 to 85 per cent of residents saying they would participate.

Young adults between 18 to 34 were also likely to head out for Halloween, with 65 per to 79 per cent saying they would be participating.

Those planning for a night out on the town for Halloween will have an extra hour to celebrate with Daylight Saving Time (DST) on Sunday morning.

This release draws on Canada Pulse Insights surveys of adult residents in three markets, each asking this year the same question in the same words: Toronto (n=510) and the GTA outside Toronto, the regional municipalities of Durham, York, Halton and Peel (n=825), between Sept. 14 and 25, 2026, Calgary (n=401) and Edmonton (n=383) between Sept. 30 and Oct. 9, 2026, and three British Columbia regions — Metro Vancouver (n=1,374: the City of Vancouver, Surrey and the rest of Metro Vancouver), Vancouver Island (n=511) and the Okanagan Valley (n=498) — between Sept. 28 and Oct. 14, 2026, through an online panel platform managed by Sago.

The margin of error for comparable probability-based random samples of the same sizes is ±4.3 percentage points for Toronto, ±3.4 for the GTA outside Toronto, ±4.9 for Calgary, ±5.0 for Edmonton, ±2.6 for Metro Vancouver, ±4.3 for Vancouver Island and ±4.4 for the Okanagan Valley, 19 times out of 20.