Fact Sheet: Satisfaction With Time Use
by Karine Leclerc and Rachel Leistra
Time is a finite resource; how satisfied are people in Canada with how they use their limited time? Measuring satisfaction with time use provides a valuable understanding about how a person perceives their time spent across their day in activities such as paid work, unpaid work and care, leisure, sleep, transportation, and so on. Indeed, satisfaction with time use is a headline indicator in assessing subjective well-being in Canada’s Quality of Life Framework and is a recommended measure of well-being internationally.
Using data from the 2022 Time Use Survey, this paper sheds light on Canadians’ quality of life by providing a short overview of the indicator “satisfaction with time use”. Results show that reporting high satisfaction with time use differs depending on factors such as age, disability, and the region of Canada in which a person lives.
Start of text boxHow satisfaction with time use is measured
Satisfaction with time use measures how individuals aged 15 years and older rate their satisfaction with their use of time on a scale from 0 (“very dissatisfied”) to 10 (“very satisfied”).
Low satisfaction with time use reflects a value of 0-3, moderate satisfaction reflects a value of 4-6, and high satisfaction reflects a value of 7-10.
In Canada, almost two thirds of people report high satisfaction with time use
A majority of persons (62.3%) in Canada reported that they were highly satisfied with their use of time. This proportion did not vary much across regions in Canada, with the exception of Quebec (Chart 1).
Data table for Chart 1
| Region | High satisfaction | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Percent | 95% confidence interval | ||
| lower bound | upper bound | ||
Source: Statistics Canada, Time Use Survey, 2022. |
|||
| Canada | 62.3 | 60.8 | 63.7 |
| Atlantic | 62.6 Data table for chart 1 Note * | 59.0 | 66.2 |
| Quebec (ref.) | 67.3 | 64.6 | 70.0 |
| Ontario | 59.6 Data table for chart 1 Note * | 56.9 | 62.3 |
| Prairies | 61.6 Data table for chart 1 Note * | 58.2 | 64.9 |
| British Columbia | 62.2 Data table for chart 1 Note * | 59.0 | 65.2 |
Persons living in Quebec were the most likely to report high satisfaction with time use (67.3%), compared to all other regions. This is aligned with previous research on different measures of well-being, which have found that Quebec has higher levels of reported life satisfaction and overall perceived well-beingNote compared to the Canadian average (Statistics Canada, 2024; Statistics Canada, 2023).
People living in rural areas are more likely than those living in urban areas to report high satisfaction with time use
High satisfaction with time use also varied depending on whether someone was living in a rural or an urban area. The rate of persons living in rural areas (69.6%) reporting that they were highly satisfied with their use of time was statistically significantly higher than that of those living in urban areas (61.1%). This result is aligned with the differences in life satisfaction and in the overall perceived well-being between rural and urban populations. Previous research has found that persons living in rural areas were significantly more likely to report being very satisfied with their life as a whole and having higher levels of perceived well-being (Statistics Canada, Table 13-10-0844-01; Thomson et al., 2025; Statistics Canada, 2023).
Older persons report the highest rate of high satisfaction with time use compared to younger age groups
In Canada, high satisfaction with time use tended to increase with age starting in middle-age groups—and this trend held true across all regions of Canada. Nearly 4 in 5 (78.1%) older persons (aged 65 years and older) reported high satisfaction with time use, making this age group the most satisfied (Chart 2).Note
For each age group, there were no statistically significant gender differences in the likelihood of reporting high satisfaction with time use—despite the fact that women are generally more likely than men to feel pressed for time, to report being constantly under stress, and to report often feeling like they had not accomplished what they had set out to do by the end of the day (Statistics Canada, 2025; Statistics Canada, Table 45-10-0111-04).
Data table for Chart 2
| Age group | High satisfaction | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Percent | 95% confidence interval | ||
| lower bound | upper bound | ||
Source: Statistics Canada, Time Use Survey, 2022. |
|||
| 15 to 24 years | 53.7 | 46.8 | 60.6 |
| 25 to 34 years | 55.5 | 51.5 | 59.4 |
| 35 to 44 years (ref.) | 54.8 | 51.7 | 57.8 |
| 45 to 54 years | 59.6 Data table for chart 2 Note * | 56.4 | 62.8 |
| 55 to 64 years | 65.0 Data table for chart 2 Note * | 62.1 | 67.8 |
| 65 years and older |
78.1 Data table for chart 2 Note * | 76.3 | 79.8 |
The fact that older persons (aged 65 years and older) reported the highest rate of satisfaction with their use of time is aligned with previous research showing that older persons tend to report higher levels of well-being across various measures. They have a higher rate of overall perceived well-being (Statistics Canada, 2023) and life satisfaction (Statistics Canada, 2024). They are also the least likely to feel pressed for time: in 2022, only 5.1% of older persons reported high time pressure compared to 34.8% of core working-age adults aged 25 to 54 years. Compared to those working-age adults, older persons were also less likely to consider themselves a workaholic (12.9% versus 34.5%); less likely to report cutting back on sleep (20.2% versus 59.9%); and less likely to feel they were not spending enough time with family and friends (21.5% versus 58.7%) (Statistics Canada, Table 45-10-0111-01).
Given that persons aged 65 years and older are more likely to be retired than their younger counterparts, their increased likelihood of reporting high satisfaction with time use may be partially explained by differences in lifestyle. However, the data released today shows that an increase in satisfaction with time use is already seen in the younger age groups of 45 to 54 and 55 to 64 years, who are more likely to still be employed. Indeed, these differences by age groups remain even when we account for the main activity of the past week (analysis not shown here).Note Future research could use the Time Use Survey to explore the impact of daily activities reported in the time diary on satisfaction with time use.
Persons with disabilities are less likely to report high satisfaction with their use of time
Persons with disabilitiesNote (52.5%) were significantly less likely than persons without disabilities (69.8%) to report high satisfaction with their use of time (Chart 4).Note
Like the pattern seen at the population level, high satisfaction with time use tended to increase with age among persons with disabilities. Persons with disabilities aged 65 years and older (70.6%) were significantly more likely than their younger counterparts aged 35 to 44 years to report high satisfaction with time use (43.0%) (Chart 3).
Data table for Chart 3
| Age group | Without disabilities | With disabilities | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High satisfaction | 95% confidence interval | High satisfaction | 95% confidence interval | |||
| lower bound | upper bound | lower bound | upper bound | |||
| percent | ||||||
Satisfaction with time use is measured on a scale of 0 to 10. High satisfaction reflects a value of 7 to 10. Source: Statistics Canada, Time Use Survey, 2022. |
||||||
| 15 to 24 years | 58.6 | 49.8 | 67.0 | 44.4 E use with caution | 32.6 | 56.6 |
| 25 to 34 years | 65.6 | 60.3 | 70.6 | 41.6 Data table for chart 3 Note ‡ | 35.6 | 47.8 |
| 35 to 44 years | 62.4 | 58.4 | 66.2 | 43.0 Data table for chart 3 Note ‡ | 38.1 | 48.0 |
| 45 to 54 years | 69.1 Data table for chart 3 Note * | 65.2 | 72.7 | 48.1 Data table for chart 3 Note ‡ | 43.2 | 53.1 |
| 55 to 64 years | 75.4 Data table for chart 3 Note * | 72.0 | 78.7 | 53.2 Data table for chart 3 Note ** Data table for chart 3 Note ‡ | 48.6 | 57.7 |
| 65 years and older | 85.5 Data table for chart 3 Note * | 83.2 | 87.6 | 70.6 Data table for chart 3 Note ** Data table for chart 3 Note ‡ | 67.9 | 73.2 |
Satisfaction with time use was also associated with the severity of disability. Among persons with disabilities, the likelihood of reporting high satisfaction significantly declined as severity of disability increased, with high satisfaction ranging from 56.9% for those with mild disabilities to 43.7% for those with severe or very severe disabilities (Chart 4).
Data table for Chart 4
| With disabilities /Without disabilities | High satisfaction | 95% confidence interval | |
|---|---|---|---|
| lower bound | upper bond | ||
| percent | |||
Source: Statistics Canada, Time Use Survey, 2022. |
|||
| With disabilities | |||
| Total | 52.5 Data table for chart 4 Note * | 50.3 | 54.6 |
| Mild | 56.9 Data table for chart 4 Note * | 54.1 | 59.8 |
| Moderate | 48.1 Data table for chart 4 Note * | 43.5 | 52.8 |
| Severe or very severe | 43.7 Data table for chart 4 Note * | 39.0 | 48.5 |
| Without disabilities (ref.) | 69.8 | 67.8 | 71.7 |
While the sociodemographic and socioeconomic profiles of persons with and without disabilities differ (Hébert et al., 2024) —which could impact the likelihood of reporting high satisfaction—additional analysis (not shown here) found that even when accounting for various factors,Note the difference in satisfaction with time use between people with and without disabilities remained. This suggests that differences in age, employment status and gender cannot explain why people with disabilities are less likely to be highly satisfied with their time use.
These findings align with previous research on time use and well-being for persons with disabilities. In 2015, persons with disabilities were more likely than persons without disabilities to experience high levels of stress and to have negative perceptions of time (Kevins et al., 2022). Persons with disabilities also reported different daily activities than those without disabilities—for example, they were less likely to spend time on paid work and transportation, and more likely to spend time on unpaid work (Kevins et al., 2022).
Summary
This brief overview of satisfaction with time use looked at the proportions of people reporting high satisfaction across Canada by age and disability status. Results show that reporting high satisfaction with time use differs depending on these characteristics. People living in Quebec were more likely than those living in the other regions of Canada to report high satisfaction with their use of time. Older persons aged 65 years and older were also more likely than their younger counterparts to report high satisfaction with time use. Finally, persons with disabilities were significantly less likely to report high satisfaction with their use of time than persons without disabilities.
To understand why these differences exist, future research could focus on results from the time diary, which was a key feature of the 2022 Time Use Survey. This could allow for an exploration of whether time spent on particular daily activities—or the subjective rating of how pleasant or unpleasant the respondent found these activities—affected Canadians’ overall satisfaction with time use. Furthermore, future studies could explore both time use in an average day and overall satisfaction with time use results for different groups of people in Canada, enhancing the understanding of the effect that the activities of daily life have on overall quality of life within this diverse country.
Note to readers
The Time Use Survey (TUS) is a cross-sectional survey under the General Social Statistics Program and has been conducted since 1986. Data for the 2022 TUS were collected from July 2022 to July 2023.
The survey has a target population of non-institutionalized persons and non-residents of First Nations reserves aged 15 years and older, living in the 10 provinces of Canada. The TUS collects information in a 24-hour time diary on how respondents spent their time during the day, including what they were doing, how long they did it for and who else was present during each activity. The survey also collects additional information on well-being and time pressure, paid work, transportation, and sociodemographic characteristics.
Persons with disabilities were identified using the short version of the Disability Screening Questions (DSQ), which was included in the 2022 TUS.
For more information about this survey (questionnaires, definitions, data sources and methods used), please see Surveys and statistical programs – Time Use Survey.
References
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Kevins, Christina, Robin Pianosi and Susan Wallace. 2022. “Time use among persons with disabilities in Canada.” Reports on Disability and Accessibility in Canada. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 89-654-X.
Krueger, Alan B., Daniel Kahneman, David Schkade, Norbert Schwarz and Arthur A. Stone. 2009. “Measuring the Subjective Well-Being of Nations: National Accounts of Time Use and Well-Being.” National Time Accounting: The Currency of Life. National Bureau of Economic Research, University of Chicago Press.
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Statistics Canada. 2025 (June 17). “Time pressure and time spent with friends over the last 30 years.” The Daily.
Statistics Canada. Table 13-10-0844-01 Life satisfaction by gender and other selected sociodemographic characteristics [Data table].
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Statistics Canada. Table 45-10-0111-04 Types of time pressure in Canada, by gender, 1992-2022 [Data table].
Thomson, Myfanwy, Maire Sinha, Simon Hemm and Lauren Pinault. 2025. “Beyond urban and rural: Rethinking the social geography of Canada.” Insights on Canadian Society. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 75-006-X.
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