Forget May "Two-Four," This is the May "To-Do" Long Weekend

Canadian Tire Study Shows 8 in 10 Canadians Think the May Long Weekend is Ideal for Spring Chores*

Canadians who are doing spring chores this long weekend will spend an average of nine hours tackling them, with gardening and landscaping, window cleaning and getting organized topping the to-do lists

TORONTO, May 14, 2013 /CNW/ - With the late arrival of spring, Canadians are thinking more about their spring to-do lists than relaxing this upcoming long weekend. According to a recent Ipsos Reid Public Affairs survey commissioned by Canadian Tire, 82% of Canadians surveyed agree that the May long weekend is the ideal time to tackle spring chores. This weekend Canadians are rolling up their sleeves, with those planning on doing spring chores spending an average of nine hours checking off their to-do lists. The top long weekend chores for these Canadians are gardening and landscaping (65%), window cleaning (59%) and storing and organizing seasonal items (57%).

In true Canadian style, of those who plan to tackle spring chores, four in ten (38%) say they're actually looking forward to these seasonal jobs and 85% are motivated to get started. In addition, half of those doing chores plan to spend time with their families as they complete jobs around the home.

"The warm weather is finally here, it's great to see that Canadians are excited to take on their home to-do lists this long weekend - and to do it with a smile," said David DeMelo, Category Business Manager, Canadian Tire. "The survey results show that Canadians want to get their homes into shape so that they can spend time relaxing with their families and friends the rest of the season. From creating the perfect lawn to performing repairs around the home, Canadians know that they can rely on Canadian Tire to provide the tools and resources they need to check off every task on their long weekend to-do list."

Other interesting survey facts about Canadians and their long weekend chores:

• After a particularly long winter, it's no surprise that Manitoba and Saskatchewan respondents who plan on doing spring chores over the long weekend are the most motivated to get started (94% vs. 85% nationally)
• Albertans are most likely to do these chores - 60% of people living in the province plan on spending their May long weekend tackling spring chores (compared to 52% nationally)
• Quebecers who plan on doing spring chores over the long weekend will spend the most time - on average 10 hours compared to nine hours nationally, with 45% of Quebec respondents looking forward to completing the seasonal jobs

Tips and tricks from Canadian Tire when completing spring chores:

Gardening and landscaping. Prepare your soil before you start to garden. Good soil is the foundation for gardening so make sure you know what kind of soil you have to work with. Prepare your lawn for the season by removing any debris and leftover crust that's settled on your lawn from the winter. Add some fertilizer, such as CIL Golfgreen's 1 Step Lawn Makeover, to help ensure you get a nice thick lawn.

Tidying and organizing your garage. Do some spring cleaning in your tool chest and bag. Take out and examine all of your tools to make sure they are working properly and consider replacing the ones that aren't. Invest in double duty products to keep clutter at bay such as Canadian Tire's Mastercraft Metal Base Cabinet, which can be used to store your tools and serve as a work space.

Tackle small fixes at home: Look around the home, identify and repair any smaller issues before they become bigger problems. Performing tasks such as repairing the driveway, removing debris from eaves troughs and downspouts and replacing caulking on windows will help save you time and money down the road.

Car detailing and maintenance: After undergoing a winter of hard driving, it's important to clean off salt and road grime, check brakes and fluids, and change oil to a warm weather formula. Try Autoglym's Aqua Wax Kit, designed for wet auto exteriors to help leave a brilliant shine on your car.

Get the products you need to tackle your spring chores at Canadian Tire. Visit www.canadiantire.ca and for more tips and tricks and check out Canadian Tire's digital catalogue, The Canadian Way http://catalogue.canadiantire.ca/.

About Canadian Tire Corporation

Canadian Tire Corporation, Limited (TSX:CTC.a) (TSX:CTC) is a Family of Companies that includes Canadian Tire Retail, Partsource, Gas+, FGL Sports (Sport Chek, Hockey Experts, Sports Experts, National Sports, Intersport and Atmosphere), Mark's and Canadian Tire Financial Services.  With more than 1,700 retail and gasoline outlets from coast-to-coast, our primary retail business categories - Automotive, Living, Fixing, Playing and Apparel - are supported and strengthened by our Financial Services division. Over 85,000 people are employed across the Canadian Tire enterprise, which was founded in 1922 and remains one of Canada's most recognized and trusted brands. For more information, visit Corp.CanadianTire.ca.

*These are some of the findings of two Ipsos Reid surveys conducted between April 18th to 24th, 2013, and between May 7th to 8th, 2013 on behalf of Canadian Tire. For the first survey, a sample of 1,143 Canadians from Ipsos' Canadian online panel was interviewed and the second survey yielded a sample of 1,092 Canadians. The precision of Ipsos online surveys is measured using a credibility interval.  In this case, the first survey is accurate to within +/- 3.3 percentage points and the second survey is accurate to within +/- 3.4 percentage points had all Canadians been surveyed.

SOURCE: CANADIAN TIRE CORPORATION, LIMITED