It’s still more than a month away but Canadians are already on the job when it comes to Christmas shopping.
A Bank of Montreal survey says the economic uncertainty triggered by tariffs was enough to get one-quarter of the population out into the malls a bit earlier this year in hopes of avoiding price increases.
Others are just tweaking their budgets this year. Sixty-percent said they were adjusting their Christmas spending plans because of tariffs but that generally means becoming better Canadian shoppers: they are looking for items not affected by tariffs or goods made domestically.
They plan to drop more than $2,300 this year for everything from presents to travel, food, booze and clothing. They’re finding that money by saving through the year – spending less on birthday presents and the like so they can splurge more at Christmas.
Retailers appear to have a pretty good handle on meeting these customers halfway. Half of those surveyed said holiday sales and specials usually entice them into spending more than they originally planned with an expectation it will take two months to pay everything off.
