![Canadians more cautious about holiday spending despite tax break: poll](https://globalnews.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/holiday-spending-poll.jpg?quality=85&strip=all&w=720&h=379&crop=1)
Canadians more cautious about holiday spending despite tax break: poll
Global News
This holiday season, Canadians are being more cautious about their spending despite a tax break on a slew of items, new Ipsos polling exclusive to Global News shows.
This holiday season, Canadians are being more cautious about their spending despite a tax break on a slew of items, new polling shows.
Nearly 40 per cent of Canadians said in an Ipsos poll conducted exclusively for Global News and released Tuesday that they plan on reining in their gift shopping this holiday season. That is an increase of 10 points compared to when similar polling was done last year.
Four in 10 also plan to spend the same amount as last year — down nine points compared to October 2023 — while 11 per cent said they will increase their spending on gifts this time around, the Ipsos poll showed.
“At the moment, it looks like people are approaching the holidays pretty cautiously and to the extent that people are moving past caution, it’s not to spend more, it’s to spend less,” said Darrell Bricker, global CEO of Ipsos public affairs.
Financial pressures are weighing on the majority of Canadians’ holiday spending budget, with 76 per cent saying that inflation and interest rates have had a “significant impact.”
Overall inflation has cooled in recent months, hitting Bank of Canada’s two per cent target in October, and interest rate is down to 3.25 per cent after five consecutive cuts. Yet, many Canadians are still continuing to feel a squeeze in their wallets.
To help ease the pressure for Canadians on the cost of living, the federal government has enacted a two-month “tax holiday” on several items that kicked in on Saturday. Bricker said even the tax break does not appear to have had the “desired effect” that Ottawa was going for.
“(Canadians are) budgeting more than they used to be, more conscious about the money that they’re spending and they don’t think that even a tax holiday is anything that’s going to turn this around,” he said.
![](/newspic/picid-6251999-20241217003220.jpg)
A new report from the Angus Reid Institute shows that Saskatchewan residents are struggling financially or feel they’re in uncomfortable positions. Experts say it’s due to the high cost of living and stagnant wages. Katherine Ludwig breaks down the report and talks with experts about the reasons behind the struggle.