Black Friday Nov. 27: Wait for It or Skip It? Canadians Plan to Spend 6.5% Less

 

CANADIAN MONEY BRIEF • NOVEMBER 14, 2026

Black Friday lands on Nov. 27, and nearly half of Canadians have been holding off purchases to wait for it. But with budgets shrinking and borrowing costs higher, waiting only pays if the deal is real and the bill gets paid.

Quick take: Canadians plan to spend an average of $911 this holiday season, down 6.5% from last year. Black Friday is still the day most plan around. The smart move is not to skip it or blindly chase it, but to decide before the sales what you need, what it should cost, and how you'll pay.

Budgets are shrinking, but Black Friday isn't

The Retail Council of Canada and Leger surveyed 2,500 Canadians between Aug. 21 and Sept. 4. The average planned holiday budget came in at $911, down $64 from $975 a year ago. More than half of respondents (56%) said inflation or economic instability is weighing on their outlook.

Yet the big sale days are doing the opposite of shrinking. 88% rank Black Friday among their top three shopping days, up from 84%, and 52% rank it number one. Meanwhile 43% say they put off purchases during the year to catch major sales, up from 39% last year. Black Friday and the Cyber Monday/Cyber Week stretch are each expected to account for about 29% of holiday budgets.

Holiday shopping snapshot	Figure
Average planned holiday spending (RCC/Leger)	$911 (-6.5%)
Ontario planned spending	$952 (-$143)
Rank Black Friday a top-three shopping day	88%
Delayed purchases to wait for sales	43%
Share of budget on Black Friday / Cyber Week (each)	~29%

Source: Retail Council of Canada x Leger 2026 Holiday Shopping Survey. Online, non-probability sample; self-reported and not adjusted for inflation.

Other forecasters see the same direction with a different number. Deloitte Canada projects holiday spending of $1,305 per person, the lowest since its survey began and down from $1,521 last year, with gift and gift-card spending expected to fall 5%. The totals differ because the surveys measure different things, so compare each against its own prior year rather than against each other.

Is waiting for Black Friday actually worth it?

Sometimes. Not always. Waiting makes sense when you are buying something you were going to buy anyway, you know what it normally costs, and you can live without it for another two weeks. It backfires when a sale creates a purchase that wasn't on your list.

The "deal" itself is the weak point. A discount is only meaningful against the price the item has genuinely sold for. Canada's Competition Bureau polices misleading "regular price" claims, but shoppers are the first line of defence. Before the sales start, note the current price of your three or four biggest planned purchases, check the same item at two other retailers, and look at its price history if a tracker is available. If last month's price was close to the Black Friday price, the "40% off" tag is marketing, not savings.

A quick test before you click buy: Was it on your list before the sale email arrived? Do you know last month's price? Can you pay it off in full on the next statement? If any answer is no, skip it.

The real cost is the card, not the price tag

This is the part sale emails skip. The Bank of Canada raised its key rate to 2.50% on Oct. 28, and most standard credit cards still charge around 20% on balances carried past the due date. Put a $911 holiday budget on a card at that rate and leave it untouched for three months, and you would pay roughly $45 in interest, which can wipe out a good chunk of the discount you chased.

The fix is not complicated: set one total holiday budget that includes food, hosting and travel, not just gifts, and decide before Nov. 27 how much will go on the card and when it will be paid off. Buy-now-pay-later plans deserve the same scrutiny, especially if you stack several at once across different retailers.

WHAT IT MEANS FOR YOU

Black Friday is worth using only for planned purchases at verified prices. Set a hard total, write down your target prices now, and treat anything you can't pay off on the next statement as more expensive than it looks. For most households, the best "deal" of the season is the purchase you didn't make.

Sources: Retail Council of Canada x Leger 2026 Holiday Shopping Survey (via Retail Insider, Oct. 20, 2026); Deloitte Canada 2026 Holiday Retail Outlook; Bank of Canada rate decision of Oct. 28, 2026. Credit card interest is an illustrative estimate at roughly 20% and varies by card. This article is general information, not financial advice.