Halloween takes $70 bite out of Canadian wallets: Scotiabank poll

Zombies beware! Adults choose Team Vampire this Halloween.

TORONTO, Oct. 23, 2013 /CNW/ - With just over half of Canadians (54%) celebrating Halloween, spooky holiday spending will stay under control with the average spend for costumes, parties and candy around $70.

Quick Facts:

• The top activities Canadians have planned for Halloween are handing out candy (21%),  taking kids trick-or-treating (13%), followed by going to a Halloween party for adults (8%).
  
  
• A quarter of Canadian adults planning to celebrate Halloween have already picked a costume (26%), meanwhile 18% are still deciding what to wear.
  
  
• Of those that have planned their costumes for Halloween, the most popular costumes for adults are vampires, witches, fairies and pirates.
  
  
• Canadians aged 35-44 are the most likely to plan on taking their kids out trick or treating.
  
  
• Women (11%) and younger Canadians aged 18-24 (34%) are more likely than all others to be going to a Halloween party.
  
  
• B.C. residents are spending the most for Halloween ($82) compared to revelers in Atlantic Canada ($51).
  
  
• 15% of Canadians save in advance for Halloween expenses.

Quote:

"There is no trick to having enough cash on hand for Halloween," says Mike Henry, Scotiabank Senior Vice President and Head of Retail Payments, Deposits and Lending.  "To avoid ghoulish Halloween expenses, Canadians might want to consider using banking products that offer cash back like the Scotiabank Momentum VISA card, or that help you save while you spend like Scotiabank's Bank the Rest program."

About the polling data
Each week, Harris/Decima interviews 1,000 Canadians through teleVox, the company's national telephone omnibus survey.  The sample is comprised of 800 landline completes and 200 cell phone completes.  These data were gathered between October 3rd and 8th, 2013.  A sample of this size has a margin of error of +/- 3.1%, 19 times out of 20.

About Scotiabank
Scotiabank is a leading multinational financial services provider and Canada's most international bank. With more than 83,000 employees, Scotiabank and its affiliates serve some 21 million customers in more than 55 countries around the world. Scotiabank offers a broad range of products and services including personal, commercial, corporate and investment banking. In December 2012, Scotiabank became the first Canadian bank to be named Global Bank of the Year and Bank of the Year in the Americas by The Banker magazine, a Financial Times publication. With assets of $743 billion (as at July 31, 2013), Scotiabank trades on the Toronto (BNS) and New York Exchanges (BNS). For more information please visit www.scotiabank.com.

SOURCE: Scotiabank - Products & Services