Valentine’s Day in Canada: expectations vs. reality

Picodi.com checked the type of gifts Canadians would like to receive on Valentine’s Day, how much money they are willing to spend and if their gifts suit the taste of their partners.

Valentine’s Day is very popular in Australia: 72% of Canadians surveyed said they celebrate Valentine’s Day and 3% less said that they will give something to their partner. It probably means that for some people spending time together is more important than Valentine’s Day financial aspect.

What are Canadians going to buy as a gift? Among the men surveyed, the most popular answers were food on delivery (22%), dinner at a restaurant (20%) and Valentine’s Day cards (17%).. Women on the other hand said they are going to buy food on delivery (23%), Valentine’s Day cards (16%) and sweets (16%).

We also asked what gifts Canadians expect to get from their significant others and according to women, the most expected gifts were food on delivery (51%), dinner at a restaurant (41%), flowers (41%), Valentine’s Day cards (30%) and sweets (30%). As for men, the most expected option was dinner at a restaurant (47%), food on delivery (46%) and alcohol (19%). 17% wouldn’t mind getting tickets to the cinema or concert, and 17% expected flowers.

The worst Valentine’s Day gifts according to women are board games (25%), sports equipment (22%), sex toys (20%), teddy bears (18%) and books (18%). Among men, a teddy bear (52%) and board game (16%) were chosen as the least wanted.

Valentine’s Day in other countries

We also looked into the financial side of Valentine’s Day. On average, we spend C$85 on Valentine’s Day gifts in Canada.

Among the countries researched, the highest amounts are spent in Hong Kong (US$124), the United Kingdom (US$117), Ireland (US$112), and the United States (US$106). Canada is placed 14th in the ranking (US$67).

In 2021 in Canada, the most frequently chosen gifts is food on delivery. American men usually choose Valentine’s Day cards, while women choose sweets. In the UK, men give mostly flowers on Valentine’s Day and receive sweets from women.

Want to prepare a romantic dinner for your significant other? Or maybe order some food and enjoy a movie night? Regardless of your plans, Picodi will help you save money with cashback and discount codes offered in shops such as HelloFresh, Doordash, Peoples Jewellers, Uber and Sephora.

Methodology

This report is based on results of a survey among over 11,000 people from 38 selected countries where Valentine’s Day is celebrated. For currency conversion, we used the average exchange rate for January 2021.

Public Use

Would you like to share the information and infographics about Valentine’s Day in Canada and other countries with your readers? Feel free to use all the data and infographics presented in this report for both commercial and non-commercial purposes as long as you indicate the author of the research (Picodi.com) with a link to this subpage. If you have any questions, please contact us: research@picodi.com.