A new survey suggests many Canadians are making their holiday shopping lists and checking them twice to make sure they don’t overspend. Nearly one in three Canadians say they plan to spend less this holiday season as the cost-of-living climbs. Deloitte Canada’s Holiday Retail Outlook shows 29 per cent of Canadians plan to spend less this year as they focus on maximizing value. Spending on gifts and gift cards is set to drop by 5 per cent, and many are putting an emphasis on sales and shopping around. One of those is Andrew Bullen, who says he will focus on sales and plans to spend less. “Definitely thinking about it,” he said. “With inflation, the price of everything is up. I haven’t done my shopping for the holidays but definitely considering it.” Emily Fergusson says for the first time, both sides of her family will be pulling Secret Santa names, rather than buy for everyone. “We do our family Secret Santa pulls at the beginning of October, so that way we can start doing the markets with lots of time,” she said. Shopping with her sister-in-law at the Signature Handmade Market, she says it allows them to focus their time and energy. “I’d rather spend that money on one nicer thing,” says Fergusson. Bruce Winder says that appears to be an idea shared by many this year. “Within shopping for gifts, consumers are going to try to cut back. You’re going to see them buy more store brands. You’re going to see them thrift more. You’re going to see them maybe decide with family members to spend less per person,” Winder said. Deloitte’s survey shows the average holiday budget is sitting below last year at $1,300, compared to $1,521 in 2025. Lower spending on holiday entertaining like alcohol and groceries, as well as experiences like travel and dining out are seeing an overall decline. Rowan Doucet-Khoe says her family has agreed gifts aren’t required this year, but instead are getting together, as things feel more expensive. “Good food, good talk, enjoying ourselves,” she said. Others like Dan Kazymerchyk say holiday shopping will be business as usual. “We’re lucky that we don’t have to change very much because we have our jobs and not a lot of overhead, but we could see how it could be very bad for other people,” he said. “Just try to do your holiday shopping earlier and then that way, you’re not having to buy like a whole bunch of stuff.”
