Peace on Earth? Not during a trade war.
As U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs persist into the holiday shopping season, recent reports say Canadian consumers are willing to pay a little extra for homegrown gifts this year.
While some surveys project a pullback on spending due to tighter budgets, experts say Canadians are shopping strategically and with a sense of national duty this season.
According to a new survey from Bank of Montreal, three in five Canadians are changing their holiday shopping due to tariff concerns, while 41 per cent plan to cut back on spending.
“We’re now many, many months into this “Buy Canadian” movement, and it does not seem like consumers are waning,” says Queen’s University marketing professor, Tandy Thomas, of the national commitment to buying domestic products.
Thomas says that Canadians have remained resilient in the face of economic tensions, putting in more time and effort to find Canadian versions of the products they want.
Some international companies are responding to this appetite, with plans to put more Canadian products on sale for Black Friday and Cyber Monday this year.
An October survey from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) showed that about half of respondents would choose a more expensive Canadian-made product over another of similar quality when shopping for gifts this holiday season.
Earlier this year, PwC reported that 38 per cent of respondents said they would choose a more expensive domestic product over an imported one at the grocery store — perhaps a sign that people are more conscientious when shopping for something personal, like a gift.
Retail expert Bruce Winder says that the ‘Buy Canadian’ trend has stayed longer than he thought, though it has limits.
“When push comes to shove, some people might not be able to,” he says, pointing to the restraints on younger generations with less buying power. “It means you have to cut back somewhere else.”
Winder says that shoppers may opt to spend less on friends and themselves in order to exchange gifts with family and loved ones, but ultimately will still try to shop the sales and look for used products in the resale market.
While the PwC report projected a 10 per cent decrease in spending this season, an October report from Deloitte expects spending to rise by three per cent.
“If spending is up, that could be an indicator that we’re on the right track,” says Sean McCormick, the director of business development at payment processing company Moneris.
According to the company’s data, holiday spending in 2024 dipped in Ontario by four per cent from the previous year compared to the two per cent increase nationally, something McCormick attributes to high cost-of-living factors in the province.
McCormick expects that Black Friday will remain the top spending day of the year, as it was in 2024, as Canadians uncertain about Canada Post strikes want to ensure they get their gifts ahead of time — and at a great price.
Joshua Harris at insolvency firm Harris & Partners says that holiday spending isn’t always easy to predict and people often go into debt.
“It’s difficult to remove the emotion from this,” Harris says of shoppers trying to get the perfect gift for a child or loved one. “They’re not thinking of anything else.”
Harris says the time immediately following the holidays is busy in his business — the “post-holiday hangover” usually starts in late January, early February when the credit card bills arrive.
A survey by the insolvency firm of past and existing clients indicated that about 62 per cent don’t feel financially prepared for Christmas this year while 53 per cent are anxious about their ability to afford it.
“It is very difficult to stop this tide of consumerism at this time of year because it is so culturally and socially entrenched in our lives,” says Thomas.
Thomas stresses the need for planning and research when it comes to shopping this season. But when it comes to strengthening a relationship, her advice, though maybe clichéd, is empirical.
“It really is the thought that counts.”
