More than a year of saving has made Canadians more willing to pay a premium, with the effect of price sensitivity on brand trust hitting a low point.

That’s according to BrandSpark, which found the insight as part of the survey determining this year’s Most Trusted Awards winners.

BrandSpark surveyed 7,857 Canadians about their most trusted brands through their top-of-mind unaided responses for categories in which they shop. Those spans health and fitness, retail and restaurants, telecom and home, travel and app and websites, and now also including 10 new finance and insurance categories to reflect Canadians’ increased propensity to save. BrandSpark also added nine retail categories in which trust will have enhanced relevance as shoppers return to brick and mortar establishments more frequently.

According to the survey, price sensitivity is at its lowest point in recent years across the majority of categories.

Canadians are increasingly valuing premium products as savings on travel, dining and in other areas have helped shoppers justify paying more for better brands elsewhere. “Consumers are trading up more often but still want to ensure they are making smart buying decisions” says Robert Levy, BrandSpark International’s president.

BrandSpark has found that when consumers trust brands more, they buy them more often and are willing to pay a premium, and even self-referentially notes that 75% of shoppers trust consumer-voted awards as well.

Rideshare brand Uber had the highest share of trust of any brand in the study at 78%, and highest margin over its next closest competitor, with a gap of 69%.

Other notable winners from this year’s awards include Air Canada, which was most trusted across four categories; Intuit-owned brand Turbotax for most trusted tax preparation software in a year when more people are doing their taxes themselves; RBC, which won or tied in 10 financial categories; Loblaw, which had its grocery banners sweep the discount grocery categories, in addition to Shoppers Drug Mart taking two wins; and Bell, which won in the telco-related services, except celluar, which was won by Telus.

The entire list of 2022 BrandSpark Most Trusted Awards winners are below.

The results are ranked based on the greatest volume of mentions as the most trusted brand in the category (ties are declared if the margin of victory is within 3%). Brands must receive minimum 10% trust share to be eligible to be recognized.