Fewer shoppers look for deals as COVID-19 cases overshadow Boxing Day
CTV
Boxing Day shoppers seeking bargains found muted sales along with 'we're hiring' signs and only small groups of people allowed inside stores to maintain capacity limits due to the pandemic.
Bargain hunters found pared back sales and government-mandated smaller crowds as they headed out for a second pandemic-era Boxing Day on Sunday.
Canada's two most populous provinces had 50-per-cent capacity limits in place for the second-biggest shopping day of the year, which put something of a damper on the consumerist festivities.
A lineup had formed outside the Hudson Bay building in downtown Montreal even before the doors opened at 11 a.m., and Etienne Paquette and Emilie Provost were among the first customers.
"We tried to come early to see what the situation is like," Provost said. "After all, it doesn't seem to be that bad, there are a few people. We are really happy to be able to continue our tradition."
Paquette said if the streets had been busier, they would have gone home and ordered online instead.
The Eaton Centre in downtown Toronto, meanwhile, opened its doors at 8 a.m. Sunday.
Morne Viljoen, who recently moved to Toronto from South Africa, was out shopping Boxing Day for the first time in Canada.
