‘Tipflation’ Culture Putting Added Financial Pressure on Canadians: Survey

A credit card is placed into a credit card machine for processing payments on September 11, 2023 in La Puente, California. Credit card debt from US consumers is rising by billions of dollars amid higher inflation and interest rates, topping $1 trillion for the first time in history, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. (Photo by Frederic J. BROWN / AFP) Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images

The rising costs of food and housing have consistently been named as stressors for Canadian households over the past year, but a new phenomenon is adding extra financial pressure: tipflation.

Tipflation—the growing gratuity expectation in the service industry—may be adding to the financial stress Canadians feel. A recent poll revealed that two-thirds of Canadians feel pressured by electronic payment machines to leave a 15 percent tip, even when a tip isn’t warranted.