Canonical URL: https://giftcard.news/research-trends/deloitte-canada-2026-holiday-gift-gift-card-budget-survey/ --- description: The October 14 outlook puts the combined Canadian budget for gifts and gift cards at C$429, down from C$450. Its survey measures planned spending and does not split gift-card sales. title: Deloitte expects Canadian gift and gift-card budgets to fall 5% image: https://giftcard.news/images/social/v1/deloitte-expects-canadian-gift-card-budgets-fall-5-7c360c95dca281de134714366727c2e6.jpg --- 1. [Home](https://giftcard.news/) 2. [Research & Trends](https://giftcard.news/research-trends/) # Deloitte expects Canadian gift and gift-card budgets to fall 5% The October 14 outlook puts the combined Canadian budget for gifts and gift cards at C$429, down from C$450\. Its survey measures planned spending and does not split gift-card… By [Emma Carter](https://giftcard.news/author/emma-carter/) October 14, 2026 3 min read [ Google News ](https://google.com/preferences/source?q=giftcard.news&utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news&utm%5Fcampaign=giftcard.news) Share [ ](https://x.com/intent/post?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Fresearch-trends%2Fdeloitte-canada-2026-holiday-gift-gift-card-budget-survey%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dx%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial&text=Deloitte+expects+Canadian+gift+and+gift-card+budgets+to+fall+5%25&utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news&utm%5Fcampaign=giftcard.news "X") [ ](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Fresearch-trends%2Fdeloitte-canada-2026-holiday-gift-gift-card-budget-survey%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dlinkedin%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial&utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news&utm%5Fcampaign=giftcard.news "LinkedIn") [ ](https://wa.me/?text=Deloitte+expects+Canadian+gift+and+gift-card+budgets+to+fall+5%25+https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Fresearch-trends%2Fdeloitte-canada-2026-holiday-gift-gift-card-budget-survey%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dwhatsapp%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial&utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news&utm%5Fcampaign=giftcard.news "WhatsApp") ![Holiday shop-window illustration used on Deloitte Canada’s 2026 retail outlook](https://giftcard.news/images/variants/v1/deloitte-expects-canadian-gift-card-budgets-fall-5-holiday-shop-window-illustration-w1200.webp) Cover illustration accompanying Deloitte Canada’s 2026 Holiday Retail Outlook. It illustrates holiday shopping and does not depict survey respondents. Photo: Deloitte Canada Canadian consumers expect to cut combined spending on gifts and gift cards by 5% this holiday season, according to [Deloitte Canada](https://giftcard.news/company/deloitte-canada/)’s 2026 Holiday Retail Outlook, released October 14\. [\[S01\]](#article-source-1) The report puts the average combined budget at C$429, compared with C$450 in 2025\. Total expected holiday spending across the listed categories falls 14%, from C$1,521 to C$1,305, making the decline in the gifting category smaller than the overall pullback. [\[S03\]](#article-source-3) ## The gift-card result has a defined boundary Deloitte reports actual gift products, gift cards and gift certificates together. The reviewed report does not split their budgets, so the 5% figure cannot be read as a standalone forecast for Canadian gift-card sales. It also does not establish the share allocated to cards. [\[S03\]](#article-source-3) The data behind the story ### Planned gifts and gift-card budget in Canada Average planned spending on actual gift products, gift cards and gift certificates combined, from figure 1.5 of Deloitte Canada’s 2026 report. Combined gifts and gift-card budget CAD Tap or hover for details. All values are also available in the data table. Source Deloitte Canada, 2026 Holiday Retail Outlook, page 9 Consumer intentions, not completed sales. The 2026 survey covered more than 1,000 Canadian consumers and ran August 28-September 4\. This combined category does not establish a separate gift-card budget or sales forecast. The published year-on-year decline is rounded to 5%. Show data tableHide data table Scroll left or right to see all columns __Planned gifts and gift-card budget in Canada (CAD)__ | Category | Combined gifts and gift-card budget | | -------- | ----------------------------------- | | 2025 | 450 CAD | | 2026 | 429 CAD | For retailers and issuers planning holiday programmes, the finding points to pressure on the wider gifting budget while preserving uncertainty about which products consumers will choose within it. A decline in the combined category alone does not establish that shoppers will switch from physical gifts to cards, or the reverse. ## Value shapes the purchase decision The survey finds Your free reader account ## Continue reading for free. Create your account or sign in to get unlimited access. Continue with LinkedIn Continue with Google Continue with Facebook No payment required. Newsletter signup is optional. [Already registered? Sign in](https://giftcard.news/login/?returnTo=%2Fresearch-trends%2Fdeloitte-canada-2026-holiday-gift-gift-card-budget-survey%2F) ## In this article ### Companies * [Deloitte Canada](https://giftcard.news/company/deloitte-canada/) ### Sources and documents * [\[S01\] October 14 Canadian survey release and fieldwork dates](https://www.deloitte.com/ca/en/about/press-room/holiday-retail-outlook-reveals-spending-on-gifts-is-expected-to-drop-5-percent.html?utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news&utm%5Fcampaign=giftcard.news) — Deloitte Canada * [\[S02\] Original 2026 Holiday Retail Outlook overview](https://www.deloitte.com/ca/en/Industries/retail/perspectives/holiday-retail-outlook.html?utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news&utm%5Fcampaign=giftcard.news) — Deloitte Canada * [\[S03\] Original report, category budgets on page 9 and methodology on page 26](https://www.deloitte.com/content/dam/assets-zone3/ca/en/docs/industries/retail/2026/holiday-retail-outlook-2026-en-aoda.pdf?utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news&utm%5Fcampaign=giftcard.news) — Deloitte Canada Share [ ](https://x.com/intent/post?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Fresearch-trends%2Fdeloitte-canada-2026-holiday-gift-gift-card-budget-survey%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dx%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial&text=Deloitte+expects+Canadian+gift+and+gift-card+budgets+to+fall+5%25&utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news&utm%5Fcampaign=giftcard.news "X") [ ](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Fresearch-trends%2Fdeloitte-canada-2026-holiday-gift-gift-card-budget-survey%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dlinkedin%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial&utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news&utm%5Fcampaign=giftcard.news "LinkedIn") [ ](https://wa.me/?text=Deloitte+expects+Canadian+gift+and+gift-card+budgets+to+fall+5%25+https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Fresearch-trends%2Fdeloitte-canada-2026-holiday-gift-gift-card-budget-survey%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dwhatsapp%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial&utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news&utm%5Fcampaign=giftcard.news "WhatsApp") ![Portrait of Emma Carter](https://giftcard.news/images/variants/v1/emma-carter-editorial-portrait-w320.webp) About the author ## [Emma Carter](https://giftcard.news/author/emma-carter/) Journalist — Retail & E-commerce Emma Carter covers retail, e-commerce and the gift card shopping experience for Gift Card News. From reading to building ## Your next move in gift cards. Tell us what you’re building. We’ll help you explore suitable providers. [Find a provider ](https://giftcard.news/find-a-provider/) ## Related articles [Research & Trends](https://giftcard.news/research-trends/) News ### [InComm’s holiday survey puts gift cards first in U.S. purchase plans](https://giftcard.news/research-trends/incomm-2026-holiday-gift-card-purchase-plans/) [Emma Carter](https://giftcard.news/author/emma-carter/) October 21, 2026 5 min [Research & Trends](https://giftcard.news/research-trends/) News ### [Gift cards lead NRF’s 2026 holiday wish list at 47%](https://giftcard.news/research-trends/nrf-2026-holiday-gift-card-wish-list/) [Emma Carter](https://giftcard.news/author/emma-carter/) October 20, 2026 3 min [Research & Trends](https://giftcard.news/research-trends/) News ### [iGift’s three-brand index records a lower Roblox discount in week 42](https://giftcard.news/research-trends/igift-week42-2026-gift-card-discount-index/) [Oliver Reed](https://giftcard.news/author/oliver-reed/) October 19, 2026 4 min ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","@id":"https://giftcard.news/#publisher","name":"Gift Card News","url":"https://giftcard.news/","description":"News and analysis covering gift cards, retail, loyalty, rewards and payments worldwide.","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://giftcard.news/icon-512.png","contentUrl":"https://giftcard.news/icon-512.png","width":512,"height":512,"@id":"https://giftcard.news/#logo"},"publishingPrinciples":"https://giftcard.news/editorial-policy/","correctionsPolicy":"https://giftcard.news/editorial-policy/"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://giftcard.news/#website","url":"https://giftcard.news/","name":"Gift Card News","description":"News and analysis covering gift cards, retail, loyalty, rewards and payments worldwide.","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@id":"https://giftcard.news/#publisher"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":"https://giftcard.news/search/?q={search_term_string}","query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https://giftcard.news/author/emma-carter/#person","name":"Emma Carter","url":"https://giftcard.news/author/emma-carter/","description":"Emma Carter covers retail, e-commerce and the gift card shopping experience for Gift Card News.","jobTitle":"Journalist — Retail & E-commerce","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://giftcard.news/images/emma-carter-editorial-portrait.webp","contentUrl":"https://giftcard.news/images/emma-carter-editorial-portrait.webp","width":1254,"height":1254,"caption":"Illustrated portrait representing the Emma Carter editorial profile.","@id":"https://giftcard.news/images/emma-carter-editorial-portrait.webp#image","encodingFormat":"image/webp","description":"Illustrated portrait for Emma Carter, a Gift Card News editorial pen name","creditText":"Gift Card News / AI-generated illustration"}},{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://giftcard.news/images/deloitte-expects-canadian-gift-card-budgets-fall-5-holiday-shop-window-illustration.webp","contentUrl":"https://giftcard.news/images/deloitte-expects-canadian-gift-card-budgets-fall-5-holiday-shop-window-illustration.webp","width":1200,"height":627,"caption":"Cover illustration accompanying Deloitte Canada’s 2026 Holiday Retail Outlook. It illustrates holiday shopping and does not depict survey respondents.","@id":"https://giftcard.news/images/deloitte-expects-canadian-gift-card-budgets-fall-5-holiday-shop-window-illustration.webp#image","encodingFormat":"image/webp","description":"Holiday shop-window illustration used on Deloitte Canada’s 2026 retail outlook","creditText":"Deloitte Canada","isBasedOn":"https://www.deloitte.com/ca/en/Industries/retail/perspectives/holiday-retail-outlook.html"},{"@type":"Dataset","@id":"https://giftcard.news/research-trends/deloitte-canada-2026-holiday-gift-gift-card-budget-survey/#dataset","url":"https://giftcard.news/research-trends/deloitte-canada-2026-holiday-gift-gift-card-budget-survey/","name":"Deloitte expects Canadian gift and gift-card budgets to fall 5%: figure data","description":"Tabular data for the figures accompanying \"Deloitte expects Canadian gift and gift-card budgets to fall 5%\". Sources, units and limitations are documented with each figure.","inLanguage":"en","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://giftcard.news/research-trends/deloitte-canada-2026-holiday-gift-gift-card-budget-survey/#article"},"isAccessibleForFree":false,"hasPart":[{"@id":"https://giftcard.news/research-trends/deloitte-canada-2026-holiday-gift-gift-card-budget-survey/#article-figure-1-dataset"},{"@id":"https://giftcard.news/research-trends/deloitte-canada-2026-holiday-gift-gift-card-budget-survey/#article-figure-2-dataset"}],"distribution":{"@type":"DataDownload","contentUrl":"https://giftcard.news/download.csv?article=%2Fresearch-trends%2Fdeloitte-canada-2026-holiday-gift-gift-card-budget-survey%2F","encodingFormat":"text/csv","isAccessibleForFree":false}},{"@type":"Dataset","@id":"https://giftcard.news/research-trends/deloitte-canada-2026-holiday-gift-gift-card-budget-survey/#article-figure-1-dataset","url":"https://giftcard.news/research-trends/deloitte-canada-2026-holiday-gift-gift-card-budget-survey/#article-figure-1","name":"Planned gifts and gift-card budget in Canada","description":"Tabular values displayed in the figure \"Planned gifts and gift-card budget in Canada\" and its accompanying data table.\n\nAverage planned spending on actual gift products, gift cards and gift certificates combined, from figure 1.5 of Deloitte Canada’s 2026 report.\n\nConsumer intentions, not completed sales. The 2026 survey covered more than 1,000 Canadian consumers and ran August 28-September 4. This combined category does not establish a separate gift-card budget or sales forecast. The published year-on-year decline is rounded to 5%.","inLanguage":"en","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://giftcard.news/research-trends/deloitte-canada-2026-holiday-gift-gift-card-budget-survey/#dataset"},"isAccessibleForFree":true,"variableMeasured":[{"@type":"PropertyValue","name":"Combined gifts and gift-card budget","unitText":"CAD"}],"isBasedOn":[{"@type":"CreativeWork","name":"Deloitte Canada, 2026 Holiday Retail Outlook, page 9","url":"https://www.deloitte.com/content/dam/assets-zone3/ca/en/docs/industries/retail/2026/holiday-retail-outlook-2026-en-aoda.pdf"}]},{"@type":"Dataset","@id":"https://giftcard.news/research-trends/deloitte-canada-2026-holiday-gift-gift-card-budget-survey/#article-figure-2-dataset","url":"https://giftcard.news/research-trends/deloitte-canada-2026-holiday-gift-gift-card-budget-survey/#article-figure-2","name":"Price leads the reported holiday retailer priorities","description":"Tabular values displayed in the figure \"Price leads the reported holiday retailer priorities\" and its accompanying data table.\n\nFactors in choosing a holiday retailer, from figure 2.9 of Deloitte Canada’s 2026 report.\n\nReported considerations overlap and must not be summed. This question concerns holiday retailer choice overall, not gift-card buyers alone. More than 1,000 Canadian consumers were surveyed August 28 to September 4, 2026; the report does not disclose an exact sample count, response rate or weighting specification. These are stated priorities, not transaction or redemption shares.","inLanguage":"en","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://giftcard.news/research-trends/deloitte-canada-2026-holiday-gift-gift-card-budget-survey/#dataset"},"isAccessibleForFree":false,"variableMeasured":[{"@type":"PropertyValue","name":"% of surveyed consumers","unitText":"% of surveyed consumers"}],"isBasedOn":[{"@type":"CreativeWork","name":"Original reported values","url":"https://www.deloitte.com/content/dam/assets-zone3/ca/en/docs/industries/retail/2026/holiday-retail-outlook-2026-en-aoda.pdf"}]},{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://giftcard.news/research-trends/deloitte-canada-2026-holiday-gift-gift-card-budget-survey/#article","url":"https://giftcard.news/research-trends/deloitte-canada-2026-holiday-gift-gift-card-budget-survey/","headline":"Deloitte expects Canadian gift and gift-card budgets to fall 5%","description":"The October 14 outlook puts the combined Canadian budget for gifts and gift cards at C$429, down from C$450. Its survey measures planned spending and does not split gift-card sales.","datePublished":"2026-10-14T00:00:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-17T06:28:35.994Z","inLanguage":"en","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https://giftcard.news/research-trends/deloitte-canada-2026-holiday-gift-gift-card-budget-survey/#webpage"},"isPartOf":{"@id":"https://giftcard.news/#website"},"isAccessibleForFree":false,"hasPart":[{"@type":"WebPageElement","isAccessibleForFree":false,"cssSelector":".reader-restricted"},{"@id":"https://giftcard.news/research-trends/deloitte-canada-2026-holiday-gift-gift-card-budget-survey/#dataset"}],"image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://giftcard.news/images/deloitte-expects-canadian-gift-card-budgets-fall-5-holiday-shop-window-illustration.webp","contentUrl":"https://giftcard.news/images/deloitte-expects-canadian-gift-card-budgets-fall-5-holiday-shop-window-illustration.webp","width":1200,"height":627,"caption":"Cover illustration accompanying Deloitte Canada’s 2026 Holiday Retail Outlook. It illustrates holiday shopping and does not depict survey respondents.","@id":"https://giftcard.news/images/deloitte-expects-canadian-gift-card-budgets-fall-5-holiday-shop-window-illustration.webp#image","encodingFormat":"image/webp","description":"Holiday shop-window illustration used on Deloitte Canada’s 2026 retail outlook","creditText":"Deloitte Canada","isBasedOn":"https://www.deloitte.com/ca/en/Industries/retail/perspectives/holiday-retail-outlook.html"}],"articleSection":"Research & Trends","keywords":["Deloitte Canada"],"mentions":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://giftcard.news/company/deloitte-canada/#entity","name":"Deloitte Canada","url":"https://giftcard.news/company/deloitte-canada/"}],"wordCount":536,"citation":[{"@type":"CreativeWork","name":"[S01] October 14 Canadian survey release and fieldwork dates","url":"https://www.deloitte.com/ca/en/about/press-room/holiday-retail-outlook-reveals-spending-on-gifts-is-expected-to-drop-5-percent.html","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Deloitte Canada"}},{"@type":"CreativeWork","name":"[S02] Original 2026 Holiday Retail Outlook overview","url":"https://www.deloitte.com/ca/en/Industries/retail/perspectives/holiday-retail-outlook.html","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Deloitte Canada"}},{"@type":"CreativeWork","name":"[S03] Original report, category budgets on page 9 and methodology on page 26","url":"https://www.deloitte.com/content/dam/assets-zone3/ca/en/docs/industries/retail/2026/holiday-retail-outlook-2026-en-aoda.pdf","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Deloitte Canada"}}],"author":[{"@id":"https://giftcard.news/author/emma-carter/#person"}],"publisher":{"@id":"https://giftcard.news/#publisher"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://giftcard.news/research-trends/deloitte-canada-2026-holiday-gift-gift-card-budget-survey/#webpage","url":"https://giftcard.news/research-trends/deloitte-canada-2026-holiday-gift-gift-card-budget-survey/","name":"Deloitte expects Canadian gift and gift-card budgets to fall 5%","description":"The October 14 outlook puts the combined Canadian budget for gifts and gift cards at C$429, down from C$450. Its survey measures planned spending and does not split gift-card sales.","datePublished":"2026-10-14T00:00:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-17T06:28:35.994Z","inLanguage":"en","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://giftcard.news/#website"},"mainEntity":{"@id":"https://giftcard.news/research-trends/deloitte-canada-2026-holiday-gift-gift-card-budget-survey/#article"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https://giftcard.news/research-trends/deloitte-canada-2026-holiday-gift-gift-card-budget-survey/#breadcrumbs"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https://giftcard.news/images/deloitte-expects-canadian-gift-card-budgets-fall-5-holiday-shop-window-illustration.webp#image"}},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https://giftcard.news/research-trends/deloitte-canada-2026-holiday-gift-gift-card-budget-survey/#breadcrumbs","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://giftcard.news/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Research & Trends","item":"https://giftcard.news/research-trends/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Deloitte expects Canadian gift and gift-card budgets to fall 5%","item":"https://giftcard.news/research-trends/deloitte-canada-2026-holiday-gift-gift-card-budget-survey/"}]}]} ```