The Current - Tip Creep: Why most Canadians say it's out of control

Episode Date: September 5, 2025

It feels like tipping culture has gotten way out of hand. We used to be tipping once or twice a week at restaurants and cafes — and now, we're being asked to tip every day, from getting our oil changed to self-serve cafeterias. There's a growing number of Canadians frustrated about the state of tipping right now, and some people are wondering — why do we still tip?

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You're placing the order at, like, just like, it's not even a restaurant. It's at like a subway. Like, you're helping them make the sandwich and they do want to tip. I wouldn't tip them. Should you tip at subway? Maybe yes, maybe no.

Most people are used to leaving a tip for their servers and bartenders, maybe leaving a couple of bucks for the hairdresser or the taxi driver. What about the mechanic who's changing the oil in your car? Tip creep has been happening for a while now. Some Canadians have had enough. I think anything that's service-based,

I mean, obviously restaurants being the most traditional, if the service is there, it tip really well. But if it's something where you're doing all of the service and you're looking at somebody standing behind the counter, that's a little different. Like you don't need to leave, you know, a prompted tip for buying a shirt or going into the wine store. I feel like with tipping, I feel like when you pay with your card or your phone, it's everywhere now.

Like it says, oh, would you like to give us a tip? But you're placing the order at, like, just like, it's not even a restaurant. There's certain places you should do it, and then there's some place you shouldn't. Actually, I tip my barber. I tip him always, I tip him $10 extra all the time. If it's self-serve stuff, like, or if you're ordering your coffee and you're supposed to tip the cashier, I don't think you should. you're kind of paying them extra to do their job.

That's what I think. A recent survey from H&R Block suggests that most Canadians, especially those 18 to 34, feel tipping culture has got out of hand. The tips are too high. Bruce McAdams is an associate professor at the School of Hospitality and Tourism at the University of Guelph. He has studied tipping and is actually currently conducting two studies on tipping policy and consumer attitudes.

Bruce, good morning. Good morning, Matt. Why are we still tipping in this country in 2020? Yeah, well, we've had a social norm of tipping for forever, for decades and decades. And we came to understand, accept that tipping was something we did based on service that we received. And we would do it, as some of the people just mentioned, at full service restaurants at barbers, et cetera, et cetera. But as was also mentioned, we've had this tip creep come in, as well. well as tipflation, which is an expectation to maybe tip a little more.

So we've had what we call tip fatigue. We've grown a little tired. And in fact, over the last year, I think opinion has really changed to just sort of being tired and being shocked by this. Sort of some trust issues, some cynicism about the system, skepticism. We've come to understand that it's just a wage subsidy. And in some places, especially with younger generations, we're seeing people more comfortable with not tipping.

So, you know, it is changing. We're still tipping. It's been rooted in our society as a social norm again for a long time. But particularly the research shows with younger generations, people are tipping or more comfortable in not tipping or what we call guilt tipping and tipping less often as well. I want to ask you about that, guilt tipping in particular. But, I mean, the creep part is the thing, I think, that drives people around the bend.

There was a CBC story. Some folks went to a pick-your-own-berry's site. And at the end of it, they were prompted to offer a tip. And they said, well, we did the work ourselves. We picked the berries. Who are we tipping? Why are we tipping? How is that creep unfolded, do you think?

Yeah, well, what's happened is in our research, we found only 10% of people we surveyed felt comfortable in tipping in non-traditional places. So first of all, there's this angst that is built up. And then studies have also shown that 82% of people now don't know where the tip is going. And this is the trust issue. So with this creep, people are really starting to doubt and wonder the system and say, hey, I'm tipping at this berry farm,

where the heck is the money going? But older generations will still feel, guilty and because of their they're more attached to that social norm than younger generations, they'll still probably tip and younger generations will say, this is crazy, I'm not going to tip. Part of this is about, you've hinted at this, about wage subsidy, right? This is why businesses are still asking for tips, you believe? It is. It helps them attract and retain staff because if you, you know, someone said tipping in a subway, if you're a subway sandwich place and you say, hey, you're going to make minimum weight,

but you're also going to make $100 a week in tips, that's going to be more attractive than working at the McDonald's. That doesn't accept tips. And it's interesting because the CEO of McDonald's yesterday came out and made a huge statement on one of the U.S. television that works about how McDonald's is a disadvantage now because they do not ask for tips. And all these other quick restaurants are asking for tips.

Why don't they just pay their employees more? Well, you know, ultimately, when you ask a, consumer, and now this has happened more often than not. It's just like, I'm done with this, just start paying people, and let's move on from tipping. It's interesting because you mentioned the generational split in this as well. One of the reasons why it's hard to turn down the tip when you get the iPad kind of swung around to you is that you almost feel bad, even though you're the one who's offering the tip, you feel bad if you push that button that says skip the tip. There's some sort of tip or prompt shame. Do you know what I mean? Yeah, well, that's that guilt tipping. That's what we

call guilt tipping. And for someone like you and me, who are of an older generation, that's something that we still deal with more than younger people. Younger people are less empathetic. The research shows since the 70s, university students, they've been doing the same questioning of them, are 40% less empathetic now than they were in the 70s. So, yeah, so it's easier for my son, who's 19, to go to a place and say, hey, you know what? I'm not going to tip because, you know, I'm not really worried about that worker and how much money they're making. And that is something that, you know, 20 years ago or 30 years ago, my father, you know, taught me you tip 15% and you do so because the servers make less money and we need to reward them for their service. That is not being transferred anymore from parents to child.

asked my 19-year-old, what's your father's impression of tipping? He would probably say, my dad's tired of going to the berry farm or the subway and being asked to tip. And so how we feel about tipping as younger generations is radically different than 30, 40 years ago. And there's an interesting study on rideshare tipping that showed that 60% of boomers always tip, 50% of Gen X tip, I think it was about 45% of millennials. And only, Only 25% of Gen Zs, the younger generation, always tip now. So that's just reinforcing that idea that younger people are less likely to feel guilt or compelled to tip. I wonder if that also has to do with what we're being prompted to tip.

I mean, I worked in restaurants through all of high school and university, and you were aiming for maybe a 10% tip. That's kind of what you thought maybe you get. Maybe you get a little bit more. Now, when the iPad has swung around to you, it might start at 20%. it is you know we've we've seen that tipflation and that you know it's interesting that because I think over the last year I think you've seen a bit of a correction there in in fact the government bill 62 legislated that if you put a tip percent on a prompt you have to

extend it to show what the dollar value so if you go to Quebec you'll see that 20 percent but underneath it'll also show you you know that $17 amount So, you know, that's a reaction by the Quebec government saying, hey, you know what, this idea of tipflation and just putting these numbers up there, we have to try to help the consumer make a better decision or the best decision for themselves. There are different attitudes in different parts of the world around tipping. Brooke Huliat is a server in Vancouver. Have a listen to what she had to say about what it's like to work in a restaurant here versus in Australia. So Australia, they do not have the tipping culture. So I've kind of seen both sides of that. In Australia, I do get the sense that servers are not as willing to go above and beyond for their customers as they will be getting paid the same either way.

Where in Canada, you know that if you provide a good service, customers will appreciate that. Maybe you'll get better tips. Bruce, do you think there's something to that that service is tied in some ways to tips or the tips are tied to service? Yeah, I think that's our perception. That's our perception as a server and our perception as a consumer. And that's bared out in the research. But the research also shows that the vast majority of our time, we tip at a fixed rate. So if I'm a 15% or a 20% or I'm going to tip that 95, 98% of the time, no matter what the service is like, unless it's exceptionally bad or exceptionally good. So, you know, this is something that, you know, we figured out years ago that,

you know, tipping isn't actually as used as we think it is. We think we're going to, you know, give more money if the service is greater, the server thinks they're going to get more if they get great service. But, you know, exactly, you know, 95% of the time, people are just tipping the same thing. So there's a bit of a fallacy in that connection. I'm going to let you go, but just very briefly. I mean, you're studying this now. We've talked about this a couple of times. What would you like to see when it comes to tipping culture in Canada? If people are frustrated if they think there's tipflation, tip creep, and there's guilt tipping as well, what should we be thinking about? Yeah, I think people should feel comfortable and should start not tipping.

I was a guilt tipper, and I've started not tipping if I went to a berry farm, if I go to the oil loop place, and you know what, I'll tell people, you can get over it. It might take a month or two, but when you feel, as someone mentioned on the interview earlier, you know, if I'm not going to get service, if it's just, you know, wage subsidy, I'm not going to, I'm not going to tip. But I also think there is some, you know, I think the government in Quebec, what they did was a good step. I think you'll see more provinces. What they also did in Quebec in that bill was they ensured that tipping was done pre-tax and not after-taxed.

So now if you add a tip prompt, it has to be calculated on the before tax total. And that's something that you and I probably remember we were taught to tip before tax. And then when digitalized payment options came, the tax was just sort of rolled in. And so, you know, for the 10 or 15 years that we've been paying digitally, we've been tipping on tax as well. So I think governments can do it a little. And I think consumers, you know, where you want to tip, full service, feel comfortable. tip to support the workers if you're not receiving service and you feel guilty. Try not tipping for a while and you might find you can get over it. Bruce, thank you very much.

Thanks, Matt. Bruce McAdams is an associate professor at the School of Hospitality and Tourism at the University of Guelph. You've been listening to the current podcast. My name's Matt Galloway. Thanks for listening. I'll talk to you soon. You've been listening to the current podcast. My name's Matt Galloway. Thanks for listening. I'll talk to you soon. CBC Podcasts, go to cBC.ca slash podcasts.