Too reliant on restaurants? Albertans plan to stop ordering in, eating out this year: survey

A stock photo showing a McDonald's delivery bag. (Unsplash/Erik Mclean)

TD Bank Group released a new survey on financial challenges in Canada on Wednesday.

The survey found 61 per cent of Albertans plan to cut back on spending this year, up four per cent from 2024 and the highest in any province.

Nearly four in 10 (37 per cent) Albertans surveyed said they are were less positive about their finances in 2025 than they were last year – the highest in Canada – with more than half (54 per cent) citing inflation and the cost of living being their biggest financial challenges.

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In terms of how Albertans plan to cut back in 2025, a whopping 72 per cent say they’ll eat out less or order in less – the highest in Canada.

The survey also found 62 per cent of Albertans plan to shop around more to save on purchases, and 46 per cent will be switching from name brand products to generic/store brand.

TD says other strategies Albertans have for saving money include spending less on entertainment (45 per cent), postponing or cancelling travel plans (31 per cent) and cancelling some or all subscription services (27 per cent).

Managing day-to-day expenses was the top financial priority for Albertans in 2025 (61 per cent), according to the survey.

The survey from Maru Public Opinion was conducted on behalf of TD Bank Group from Nov. 4 to 7, 2024. It used a random selection of 1,143 Canadian adults age 25 and older who were Maru Voice Canada online panelists. Results were weighed by education, age, gender and region to match the population, to ensure the sample was representative of the entire adult population of Canada. Maru Public Opinion says or comparison purposes, a probability sample of this size has an estimated margin of error of +/- 2.9 per cent, 19 times out of 20.