This is the last weekend for holiday shopping before most will give gifts on December 25th, and according to a new survey Canadians plan to spend less than they did last year.
The survey conducted by CIBC suggests many Canadians plan to spend an average of $600 on gifts, while students budgeted $400.
But the study also found that 51 per cent of respondents expected to go over their planned budget.
“We’re always on a budget but I always splurge, I end up spending more than I want to,” said a shopper named Harvey, gathering gifts at the CF Rideau Centre on Sunday.
Mom of two, Amy Goodman, said she planned to get everything on her kids list – adding that the list was small.
“Today it’s all about Pokémon and Emojis,” Goodman said. “I have a six-year-old boy and a 10-year-old girl so Pokémon for the boy and Emojis for the girl.”
With only one week to go until Christmas, Goodman planned to finish all of her Holiday shopping Sunday.
The CIBC survey of 1,516 was done online by randomly selected Angus Reid Forum panellists was conducted from Dec. 2 to Dec. 4. The margin of error is plus or minus 2.5 per cent, 19 times out of 20.
With files from the Canadian Press
