Retail Council of Canada's Holiday 2007 Consumer Trends
Canadians Spending More as Consumer Confidence Remains Strong

Toronto, December 13, 2007 – The average Canadian plans to spend $1,447 this year on holiday gifts and non gift-related expenses, according to a new study conducted by POLLARA on behalf of Retail Council of Canada (RCC). This represents an increase of $137 over the $1,310 cited in RCC's 2006 holiday survey.

"The results of this year's annual holiday survey clearly show that Canadians remain confident and the Canadian economy continues to hold strong," says Diane J. Brisebois, President and CEO, Retail Council of Canada.

"Despite some concerns with the economy south of the border, unemployment numbers and interest rates in Canada remain relatively low. Because of these positive trends, we are not surprised to see that value-driven Canadian shoppers are planning on spending more this year to give that perfect gift to someone special and to celebrate the holidays entertaining family and friends."

For Holiday 2007, 94% of Canadians plan to give gifts to others, spending an average of $733. These same consumers also plan to spend an average of $714 on non-gift-related expenses, such as travel, decorations, meals and entertainment this holiday season. Last year, Canadians said they intended to spend an average of $680 on gifts and $630 on non-gift-related expenses.

"While Canadians still enjoy the tangible experience of traditional bricks and mortar retailing, we are still noticing an increasing movement in the number of Canadians shopping online this year, in addition to the continued growing growth in gift card purchasing, with 29% of respondents planning to buy gift cards this year — a 10% increase over the past two years," says Robert Hutton, Executive Vice-President, POLLARA.

Highlights of the survey include:

How Much Canadians Are Spending:

• British Columbians will spend the most on gifts this holiday, ringing up an average $950.
• Quebec residents will spend the least on gifts this holiday, at $552.
• Residents of Atlantic Canada are the second-highest, spending an average of $788, followed by Albertans ($774), Ontarians ($763) and residents of Manitoba and Saskatchewan ($635).
• On average, men will spend about $109 more on gifts than women this holiday season ($791 compared to $682, respectively).

Where Canadians Are Shopping:

• While 97% of Canadians plan to shop in stores for holiday gifts, 43% plan to shop online, 19% via catalogue and 2% through television.
• 43% of Canadians plan to shop online for gifts this holiday season, marking an increase of 5% from 2006.
• On average, Albertans are the most likely to shop online for gifts this holiday season, while residents of Quebec are the least likely to shop online for holiday gifts (52% vs. 32%, respectively).
• Similar to last year, residents of the Atlantic provinces are more likely than other Canadians to purchase gifts by catalogue this season (28%).

Gift Cards:

• 29% of Canadians plan to purchase gift cards as presents this holiday season, which marks an increase of 10% over the past two years.
• Albertans are the most likely to purchase electronic gift cards as presents this holiday season, while residents of Quebec are the least likely to do the same, 35% and 15% respectively.
• Age clearly plays a role in the decision to buy a gift card for a loved one, as men aged 18-34 (36%) and women aged 18-34 (29%) are more likely to purchase a gift card than Canadians aged 55+ (22%).

Other Types of Holiday Spending:

• On average, residents of Ontario plan to spend the most on non-gift-related expenses at $926.
• Residents of the Prairies plan to spend the least on non-gift-related expenses at $175.
• Residents of Quebec come in second place at $492, followed by British Columbians at $316, Albertans at $236 and residents of Atlantic Canada at $199.

About the Study
These are the findings of a Retail Council of Canada/POLLARA poll conducted Nov. 27-30, 2007. For the survey, a representative randomly selected sample of 2,600 adult Canadians was polled through an online omnibus. With a sample of this size, the results are considered accurate to ±1.9 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had the entire adult Canadian population been polled. The margin of error will be larger within regions and for other sub-groupings of the survey population. These data were weighted to ensure the sample's regional and age/sex composition reflects that of the actual Canadian population according to the 2001 Census data. The actual results of Holiday sales may differ/vary from the intentions stated in these findings.

> For detailed research tables, click here or www.pollara.ca.

About Retail Council of Canada
Retail Council of Canada (www.retailcouncil.org) is the Voice of Retail in Canada. It is a not-for-profit association representing more than 40,000 stores of all retail formats, including independent merchants, regional and national mass and specialty chains, and online merchants.

About POLLARA
POLLARA (www.pollara.ca), the largest Canadian public opinion and marketing research firm, helps its clients improve their performance through strategic research designed and analyzed by consultants who are experts in their fields. Drawing on the talents of more than 650 employees located in 6 cities, POLLARA provides a full range of research services to leading global, national, and local companies and to public and non-profit sector organizations.

For more information, contact:
Retail Council of Canada
David Day at (416) 694-2777, ext. 222
E-mail: david@pipelinecommunications.ca

POLLARA
Robert Hutton at (416) 921-0090
E-mail: rhut@pollara.com