By Rianna Lim, The Canadian Press
A coven of witches of over 100 people take part in the 4th annual All Hallow’s Eve witches paddle in Shawnigan Lake, B.C., Sunday, Oct. 29, 2023. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito)
A new poll suggests more than a quarter of Canadians will spend $100 or more on Halloween, with roughly 70 per cent of respondents saying they’ll fork over as much money as they did last year on candy and costumes.
That’s according to polling firm Leger, which surveyed 1,520 adults this month on their Halloween habits.
The poll also suggests Canadians will spend an average of $67.65 on Halloween-related expenses – an amount that rises to $121.57 among parents.
The survey says 27 per cent of respondents indicated their household will spend $100 or more this year on Halloween costumes, events, candy and decor.
More than half of those households have children, which Leger says makes Halloween celebrations more likely.
But another 27 per cent of respondents say they will not spend a single dollar on the spooky day.
The poll also suggested that Canadians are split on handing out Halloween candy this year. Forty-seven per cent of respondents said they’ll be doling out treats, while the same percentage said they’ll skip the tradition.
More than a third said they’ll keep their candy budget under $20.
The majority of respondents with children old enough to go trick-or-treating said their kids will be knocking on doors Thursday, but just a quarter of adults said they would celebrate Halloween themselves.
The Halloween spirit seemed to be higher among parents and those aged 18 to 34, the survey found.
The poll was conducted online from Oct. 25 to 27. It cannot be assigned a margin of error because online surveys are not considered truly random samples.
