The Retail Council of Canada has released its annual holiday shopping survey, which shows people in Atlantic Canada plan on spending less than the rest of the country on gifts this holiday season.

According to the survey, Canadians plan to spend $975 on gifts, which is unchanged from previous years, and 73 per cent of people plan on either maintaining or increasing their budgets.

However, Atlantic Director Jim Cormier says in this part of the country the numbers are trending in a different direction.

He says here numbers have decreased slightly – going from $920 last year to $912 this year. At one time, Cormier explains Atlantic Canadians were the biggest spenders in the country, but now we are down to third place. He says that’s not necessarily because people are spending less, instead spending here has stayed the same while other parts of the country have increased.