Canadian cross-border shoppers plan bigger haul under new duty-free rules
Associated Press
Sunday, June 24, 2012 5:29 PM GMT
OTTAWA – A new survey suggests Canadians are in a U.S. shopping state of mind this summer thanks to changes in regulations that allow them to buy more without paying duty.
The Canadian Press-Harris Decima poll on relaxed cross-border shopping limits that went into effect June 1 found a large majority in favour of the changes — and 54 per cent of those planning a trip stateside said they intended to spend more.
Additionally, four in 10 said they were likely to purchase more duty-free goods.
The telephone survey of 1,000 was conducted between June 14 and 18 and is considered accurate plus or minus 3.2 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
As outlined in the March budget, the duty-free threshold on stays longer than 24 hours rose to $200 from $50, while the limit on stays longer than 48 hours increased to $800.
The changes were criticized by the Retail Council of Canada as just one more blow to merchants who must compete with U.S. competitors that often get a better deal from suppliers.
