StatsCAN Plus

The festive season is a time of get-togethers with family, friends and community, and an ideal moment to reflect on the importance of belonging. Indeed, a strong sense of belonging to one’s local community is a key sign of social connectedness, which plays a crucial role in an individual’s overall health and quality of life.

A recently released Statistics Canada study examines what virtual care looked like in 2023. Let’s have a look at some of the main takeaways, along with a snapshot of other health care data, to get a sense of how virtual care has changed post-pandemic.

While Canadians can enjoy turkey year-round, it is perhaps most famously served at large family gatherings at Thanksgiving and during the festive season. Let’s talk turkey. 

Statistics Canada's look at the week.

There were nearly 61.5 million visits to Quebec’s tourism regions (covering the whole province) in 2024, generating nearly $13.7 billion in visit-related expenditures. At nearly 1.3 million square kilometres, Quebec is Canada’s largest province, so it’s probably no surprise that many visits involved lengthy travel.

“Home for the holidays” is a familiar refrain at this time of year. How far older adults must travel to get to their parents’ home depends on several factors, including income, according to a recent study.

Statistics Canada's look at the week.

New home prices have been slowly trending downward nationally since peaking in August 2022, with the decline accelerating in 2025. One notable exception to the national trend is Halifax, where new home prices continued to rise.

Canada’s health care system has long faced challenges in maintaining adequate staffing levels to meet the growing demand for health care services, and the issues have intensified since the pandemic. In 2024, for example, almost one-fifth (19%) of employees in health occupations (except management) worked overtime in 2024, and the share was particularly high among nursing and allied health professionals, where one in four (25%) worked overtime.

As winter’s chill sets in across Canada, the race to the indoors begins, often corresponding to a surge in respiratory infections. With viruses thriving in close quarters, people are at an elevated risk of being infected with these illnesses during the colder months. You can protect yourself from respiratory viruses by following Government of Canada recommendations.