About 25% of British Columbians plan to shop in the U.S. this holiday season, according to survey results released this morning by BMO Bank of Montreal.
B.C., Ontario and the Atlantic provinces are leading the country for holiday cross-border shopping intentions, with 24 to 25% of their populations planning to shop in the U.S.
Nationally, 18% of Canadians plan cross-border shopping trips. That’s up from 13% last year.
Doug Porter, who is deputy chief economist of BMO Capital Markets, chalked the rise mostly to the ongoing strength of the Canadian dollar.
“BMO forecasts that Canadian holiday retail sales receipts, excluding auto and gasoline sales, should increase between 2% and 3%, year-over-year, in November/December,” he said.
The survey also found that Quebecers are the least likely to cross-border shop (6%) and that women (19%) are slightly more likely than men (17%) to shop in the U.S.
The survey was completed online in late October. It has a margin of error of +/-2.5% 19 times out of 20.
Last month, BMO predicted that Canadian retailers would experience a 2.5% increase in their holiday sales, excluding auto and gasoline sales – a smaller increase than 2010’s 3.1%, but an improvement over 2008 and 2009. (See “BMO projects Christmas spending to be lower than 2010” – BIV Business Today, October 21.)
Jenny Wagler
@JennyWagler_BIV