A recent study by the Bank of Montreal claims that Canadians tend to be tightfisted when it comes to tipping. The study seems to indicate that the problem is more a lack of understanding of who to tip and how much than truly being tightfisted with their money.
I generally tip in restaurants and when I get my hair cut but never would think of tipping in other situations. The site, The Original Tipping Page, carries a list of situations and common guidelines on how to determine tips.
While most people realize that people in service industries look for tips, usually because of low wages paid to them by employers who rationalize that the service person can make a real wage by all the tips they get. That should be an incentive for service people to give good service, all too often, it isn’t. Keep in mind that good service earns a tip, extraordinary service earns larger tips. Likewise, incredibly bad service earns either less than the standard or zero.
Generally, tipping in Canada follows the same guidelines as the United States. In most restaurants and hair salons the rate would be 15-20% of the pre-tax bill. I generally shoot in the area of 15% of the total bill which would put me more or less midrange. If the quality of service is less than competent the tip will fall off accordingly.
In a buffet service restaurant it is acceptable to tip in the 5-10% range considering how much service the wait staff have actually done. This is an area I’ve always been confused on until now. I’ve often thought it was more logical to tip lower in a buffet restaurant but haven’t wanted to be chintzy and have been generally tipping the same as a sit down restaurant.
With a bit of knowledge, you can tip with confidence to those who understand that good service is what they are receiving a tip for.
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