Busiest shopping day of the year fast approaching in Canada

Those who haven’t finished their Christmas shopping may want to get out before the busiest day of the year.

The busiest shopping day of the year will be Friday (Dec. 22) in Canada, according to Interac, a company that links financial institutions for electronic banking transactions. 

According to Interac transaction data, nearly 27.8 million purchase transactions are expected to take place that day – which represents roughly 2.7 million more transactions than the same date last year.   

A recent survey finds that nearly four in ten Canadian shoppers (38 per cent) say they are feeling the pressure to spend during the holiday season even though their finances are tight, according to Interac.

This phenomenon is especially evident among newcomers to Canada. Nearly seven in ten (69 per cent) newcomers say they feel more pressure to spend money around the holidays now that they live in Canada, while 71 per cent say their financial stress during the holidays has grown since moving to this country. 

But overall, a majority of Canadians are stressed this time of year.

Over two-thirds of Canadians (68 per cent) say they are stressed about at least one aspect of spending during the holiday season, the survey found.

Among those who are stressed, the top sources include:

• buying gifts (77 per cent)
• spending money hosting and entertaining family and friends (41 per cent)
• giving money to family members (34 per cent)

Interac offers several tips and advice for Canadians this holiday season including planning ahead with a gift budget, sharing costs with family or friends during outings or dinners, and if you are still feeling stressed after the holiday, try a financial literacy resource with subtitled modules available in a variety of languages, free from Interac. 

The online nationwide survey was conducted by Discover, for Interac, among 1,202 respondents, age 18 years and older from Sept. 28 to Oct. 6, 2023.  

The sample was comprised of a core sample of 1,000 Canadian adults (representative of the Canadian adult population according to the most recent Statistics Canada census data), plus oversamples to result in subgroup totals of 207 newcomers/new Canadians (defined as those who immigrated to Canada after age 18 and have lived in Canada for less than 10 years) and 99 international students currently studying in Canada.