The holiday season for a Toronto shop or café is not one peak. Moneris transaction data shows two: Black Friday, and the two days before Christmas, which came within 6% of Black Friday's volume last year. A creator campaign planned in the first week of October can hit both. One planned in November hits neither.
In short
- Canadians budgeted $975 for gifts last season, and 86% planned to shop close to home, per the Retail Council of Canada's 2025 survey of 2,505 adults.
- 84% call Black Friday their most important shopping day, and more than half start researching one to three weeks before it (Retail Council of Canada, November 2025).
- December 23 reached 95% of Black Friday's transaction volume and December 22 reached 94%, while Boxing Day took less than half, according to Moneris data reported by Retail Insider.
- The timeline below starts this week and ends on Boxing Day.
What do the 2025 numbers say about this season?
The Retail Council of Canada's eighth annual survey with Leger, fielded August 5 to 25, 2025 and released on October 20, 2025, is the latest full read on Canadian holiday shoppers. The average gift budget was $975, and 73% planned to keep or raise their spending. Shoppers were careful rather than closed: 85% said they wait for sales, 80% compare prices, and 61% rank price as their first consideration. Two findings matter for a creator campaign. 59% planned to browse in store for inspiration, and 40% said they are more impulsive during the holidays, up from 37% in 2024.
Local and Canadian-made both scored high: 86% planned to shop close to home and 84% said they would look for Canadian-made products. Gift cards were on 47% of lists, up from 42%.
Moneris, which processes a large share of Canadian card payments, published its Black Friday read on December 11, 2025: week-over-week transaction volumes rose 25% and the average transaction grew 14%, even as the national year-over-year volume fell 4%. An Angus Reid survey for Moneris found 43% of Canadians planned to spend less than the previous year and only 7% planned to spend more. The season as a whole, November 1 to December 31, ended with total spend down 1% and the number of transactions up 1%.
What to do in October
Week of October 6: decide the offer and the creators. Pick one thing worth a visit, such as a gift set, a holiday menu item or a gift card bonus, and the two to four creators whose followers live near you. Browse by neighbourhood rather than by follower count; the how much to pay guide has current rates.
October 13 to 24: book, brief and film. Creators visit while the shop is quiet and film the holiday setup, the product and the staff. Ask for two pieces each: a gift-guide style post for November and a short "open late, come in" story for the week before Christmas. Agree the posting dates now.
October 27 to November 7: the first posts. The gift guides go up. This is the browsing window the survey describes, when 59% of shoppers look for ideas in store. Give them a reason to walk in: the item in the video, held back for in-store only.
What to do in November
November 10 to 21: the research window. More than half of shoppers start researching one to three weeks before Black Friday. Creators post the deal itself, with the dates. Keep the offer simple enough to repeat in one sentence.
November 24 to 30: Black Friday weekend. 84% of Canadians call it their most important shopping day, and Moneris saw transaction volume jump 25% week over week in 2025. The creator's job this week is a story a day: what is left, what is selling out, when you close.
What to do in December and after
December 1 to 12: the steady middle. Posts slow to one or two a week. Gift cards carry this stretch; 47% of shoppers planned to buy them, and they are the easiest thing for a creator to recommend.
December 15 to 23: the second peak. Moneris data puts December 22 and 23 within 6% of Black Friday. This is the "open late" story you filmed in October, posted on the 18th, 21st and 22nd. Last-minute shoppers are the most impulsive of the year, and the most local, because there is no time for shipping.
December 26: Boxing Day. It took less than half of Black Friday's volume in 2025, and Moneris called the trend downward. Spend nothing new here. A single thank-you post from each creator is enough.
January: close the loop. Count the visits each creator brought, pay the bonuses, and book the two best for Valentine's Day. On Onlure a shop books local creators for a campaign and sees the walk-ins each creator sends, which makes the January decision a short one. The brands page explains how a campaign is set up.
Frequently asked questions
When should a Toronto shop start its holiday creator campaign?
The first week of October. Creators need two weeks to visit and film, and the first gift-guide posts should be live by the end of October, before the research window that starts in mid-November.
Is Black Friday or Christmas week bigger for small shops?
Black Friday was the single busiest day in 2025, but December 22 and 23 came within 6% of it, and those shoppers are local by necessity. A campaign that covers both weeks captures the whole season for roughly the same creator fee.
Is Boxing Day worth a creator post?
Not a paid one. Boxing Day took less than half of Black Friday's transaction volume in 2025 and the trend is downward. Use the budget on the week before Christmas instead.
