As Canadians continue to trek to the malls to wrap up their holiday shopping, a new study shows they are planning to spend less money this year.

According to Scotiabank’s Holiday Spending study, Canadians are planning to spend an average of approximately $822 this holiday season, down from $900 they were planning to spend last year.

“The holiday shopping season is shaping up to be a good one,” said Bank of Nova Scotia’s deputy chief economist, Aron Gampel. “For the most part, Canadians remain confident consumers, with continuing employment gains, rising incomes, buoyant housing markets, stable borrowing costs, lower gasoline prices at the pumps, and increasing discounts by retailers providing a favourable backdrop for spending.”

Even so, some factors are weighing more on spending this year. A slowdown in national economic activity is much more visible, especially in the export- and manufacturing-intensive provinces of central Canada. Retail prospects are much better in the resource-rich regions in the east and the west. At the same time, warmer-than-normal weather in many parts of the country has probably delayed seasonal spending plans.

However, Gampel indicated that “the holiday season is just getting going, and that gift cards will keep Canadians shopping through the opening months of the New Year.”

The biggest holiday spenders are Atlantic Canadians, who plan on spending an average of $1,049, while Quebecers are planning to spend the least at an average of $626.

The large majority of spending for this holiday season will go towards buying gifts for others (76%), a 6% increase from last year. Not surprisingly, family members, children in particular, top the gift list.

Similar to last year, clothing (33%) is the most popular gift to give, followed by toys (22%) and electronics (17%). Giving the gift of choice – money and gift cards (10% each) – is once again high on the gift-giving list.

When asked how they intend to pay for their holiday expenses, 37% of those surveyed indicated with cash, followed by credit cards (31%) and debit cards (30%).

This study was conducted for Scotiabank using Decima’s teleVox panel. Data collection was conducted via CATI (Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing). A total of 1,030 interviews were completed between Nov. 16 and 20, 2006.