Canadians across the country think that there are better ways to spend their money than on the holidays, according to the Holiday Spending in Canada, 2019 report by Mylo, the popular Canadian saving and investing app. The report, which surveyed over 3,000 Canadians, found that 60 percent believed that the amount the average Canadian will spend on the holidays is “simply not worth it”.

The report also found that if the holidays were cancelled, nearly one in three Canadians would save and invest the money instead, while another one in four would pay off debt.

While this indicates that saving, investing and paying down debt are top priorities for survey respondents, 60 percent indicated that they would not be doing anything to actively save money over the holidays.

“Staying focused on achieving financial goals while making the most of the holiday season can feel like a stretch,” said Phil Barrar, Mylo founder & CEO. “We created Mylo to give Canadians a simple, automatic and stress-free way to save and invest towards major life goals as well as shorter-term ones, like celebrating the holidays.”

Mylo’s analysis of anonymized data from its platform also suggests that its users may be protecting themselves from the notorious “holiday debt hangover” by saving money during the year through regular, automated contributions via the Mylo app.

The report also revealed insights about respondents in Canada’s top cities:

  • Bah Humbug: Respondents from Winnipeg (68%), Saskatoon (68%) and Montreal (67%) top the list when it comes to saying that the money spent on the holidays isn’t worth it.
  • Deck the halls: Inversely, residents from Vancouver and Ottawa were most likely to respond positively about their holiday spending, at 50% and 48% respectively.
  • Frugally festive: Montrealers were most likely to refrain from holiday spending, with 1 in 4 saying they are not planning to spend anything this holiday season.
  • Big spenders: Torontonians topped the list of respondents who indicated they would spend over $2,500 on the holidays, with 12% of residents from Canada’s largest city checking this box, followed by Vancouver and Calgary residents at 10% each. Compared to the other cities, Torontonians were also most likely to answer that they would use holiday money to shop for themselves, at 12%.
  • Prioritizing debt: Respondents from Edmonton and Calgary were most likely to answer that they would use holiday money to pay down debt if the holidays were cancelled, at 34% and 31% respectively. This is perhaps unsurprising given the financial struggles affecting Canadians in the Oil Patch of late.
  • Capital plans: Ottawa lead “savers & investors” at 36%. They were also most likely to answer that they’d donate their holiday to charity (9%).
  • Party town: Representatives from university-dense Halifax topped the list of cities that replied that they’d use holiday money to “Party!”. This answer is perhaps in line with the fact that 3 out of 4 Haligonians surveyed are not actively taking steps to save money on holiday spending.
  • Bon voyage: Saskatoon residents were most likely to spend the money on travel (37%). Winnipeg was second on the list at 27%.

Since launching in 2017, over 450,000 Canadians have created accounts to save and invest with Mylo. Using the app’s automated savings and investing platform, Mylo users can easily save over $1,000 a year, which can be invested in a diversified portfolio of ETFs and provide valuable tax benefits through the use of TFSA and RRSP accounts.

The complete Holiday Spending in Canada, 2019 report, including raw data by province, is available here.

To learn more about Mylo, visit mylo.ai.