CANADIAN CHRISTMAS SHOPPING

With a national sample of 1,337, one can say with 95 percent certainty that the overall results are within +2.7 percentage points of what they would have been had the entire adult Canadian population been polled. The margin of error will be larger for other sub-groupings of the survey population.

CANADIAN CHRISTMAS SHOPPING

MOST CANADIANS ARE PLANNING TO SPEND "ABOUT THE SAME AS IN 1998" (47%), OR "SPEND MORE THIS YEAR" (25%) - ONLY 25% PLAN TO SPEND LESS THAN LAST YEAR

42% of Canadians say they will be Gift Shopping in the "day or two before Christmas"

58% don't expect to do any Gift Shopping just Before Christmas

Canadians are Fairly Evenly Split Between Using Cash (37%) Debit Card (31%) and Credit Card (30%) to Pay for Most of Their Christmas Shopping

Christmas is less than a week away and most Canadians say they will be spending "about the same" (47%) or more (25%) on gifts this holiday season. One quarter (25%) are planning to spend less than in 1998. Last minute shopping will not be avoided by the 42% of Canadians who say they will have at least some gift shopping to do in the day or two before Christmas. The other 58% of Canadians don't expect that they will need to do any last minute shopping. When it comes to paying for these gifts, Canadians are fairly evenly split between using cash (37%) debit card (31%) and credit card (30%) to pay for most of their Christmas shopping.

These are the highlights gleaned from a national Angus Reid Group/Globe and Mail/CTV telephone survey of 1,316 Canadian adults. Interviews were conducted between December 9th and December 19th, 1999. A sample size of 1,337 is said to have a corresponding margin of error of +2.7 percentage points, nineteen times out of twenty.

Most Canadians are planning to spend "about the same as in 1998" (47%), or "spend more this year" (25%) - only 25% plan to spend less than last year

Most Canadians are planning to spend "about the same" (47%) or "spend more this year" (25%) on Christmas gifts. Indeed, only 25% say they will be spending "less this year than in 1998".

• Residents of British Columbia (33%) followed by Atlantic Canadians (29%) and those living in Manitoba/Saskatchewan (28%) are most likely to say they will be spending less on Christmas gifts this year compared to last year.
• There are also more Atlantic Canadians (31%) saying they will spend more this year than they did last year. Ontarians (29%), Albertans (27%) and residents of Saskatchewan/Manitoba (27%) are also more likely than the national average to say they will spend more on Christmas gifts this year.
• Demographically, younger Canadians, aged 18 to 34 (36%) and men (29%) are more likely than others to say they will be spending more this year than in 1998.

42% of Canadians say they will be gift shopping in the "day or two before Christmas" - 58% don't expect to do any gift shopping just before Christmas

Forty two percent of Canadians say they will be gift shopping in the "day or two before Christmas". Six percent will do "all" of their shopping in the last couple of days, 7% will do "most" of their shopping just before Christmas and 29% will do "some" of their shopping in the last couple of days prior to December 25. The remaining 58% say they don't expect to have to do any shopping for gifts in the day or two before Christmas.

• A demographic breakdown shows that women (68%) and older Canadians (55+, 69%) are more likely to have all of their Christmas gift shopping done before the mad rush of the last couple of days before Christmas.

Canadians are fairly evenly split between using cash (37%) debit card (31%) and credit card (30%) to pay for most of their Christmas shopping

When it comes to paying for this year's Christmas gifts, Canadians are fairly evenly split between using cash (37%), debit card (31%) and credit card (30%) to pay for "most of the gifts they buy". Only 2% say most of their gifts will be bought using cheques.

• Atlantic Canadians (53%) are far more likely than the national average (37%) to say they will be using cash to pay for most of their Christmas gifts this year. Albertans (42%), on the other hand, are far more likely than the national average (30%) to say they will be paying for most of their Christmas gifts with credit card.
• Most likely to pay for Christmas gifts with cash are Canadians who are 55 years or older (44%), those with high school education (49%) or less than high school education (60%) and Canadians with a household income of less than $30,000 (54%).
• Eighteen to 34 year olds (43%) are the most likely to say they will be paying for most of their Christmas gifts with a debit card. The opposite is true of those who are 55 years of age or older as only 15% will use a debit card to pay for most of their Christmas shopping this year.
• Older Canadians (55+, 38%), men (34%), the university educated (49%) and Canadians with household incomes of $60,000 or more (40%) are most likely to say that most of their Christmas gifts will be purchased with a credit card.

For more information on this news release, please contact:

Janet Lazaris
Senior Vice-President
Angus Reid Group
(416) 324-2900, ext. 280