Canadians waiting for Black Friday to kick-start their holiday shopping will find they have less time to pick up gifts.
The annual day of deals doesn't arrive until November 29 because U.S. Thanksgiving is later this year.
That strikes five shopping days off the typical time period between Black Friday and Christmas Eve.
Queen's University marketing professor Tandy Thomas says the five fewer days will shift how retailers advertise around the season and amp up the pressure consumers feel to make their holiday purchases sooner rather than later.
She says stores will be doing everything they can to get consumers to buy earlier in the season.
A Leger survey for the Retail Council of Canada over the summer and fall found about a quarter of 25-hundred respondents said they wouldn't start holiday shopping until Black Friday or sometime after.
