The holiday season is the most commercially influential period of the year in Canada. But while most brands focus on broad, mainstream messaging, a significant portion of holiday spending now comes from newcomers, South Asian, Chinese, Middle Eastern, Black, and other multicultural communities who bring unique traditions, gifting customs, and purchasing behaviours.

Understanding these differences is no longer optional. With newcomers accounting for nearly 25% of Canada’s population and driving disproportionate retail growth, brands that tailor their holiday strategies to multicultural consumers stand to gain significantly more visibility, relevance, and conversion.

This article explores how holiday shopping behaviours vary between Canadian-born residents and newcomers, and how brands can meaningfully tap into this growing opportunity.

1. Holiday Spending Starts Earlier for Many Newcomer Communities

While Canadian-born consumers typically start shopping around Black Friday or early December, many newcomers begin much earlier. Why?

• Price sensitivity during settlement years prompts early comparison shopping.
• Large extended families mean higher gift volumes and longer preparation windows.
• Cultural festivals leading into Christmas, like Diwali, Lunar New Year (early), or Middle Eastern winter festivities, blur the line between “holiday moments,” resulting in a longer shopping season.

Brands that activate early, late October to early November, are more likely to capture multicultural consumers before they finalize gift decisions.

2. Newcomers Prioritize Practical Gifts Over “Nice-to-Haves”

Canadian-born shoppers often lean toward experience-based or novelty gifting. In contrast, newcomers, especially within their first 5–7 years in Canada, tend to prioritize:

• Electronics
• Kitchen appliances
• Home goods
• Winter gear
• Children’s education products
• Personal care items

These categories reflect cultural expectations of usefulness, long-term value, and family benefit.

Holiday campaigns that highlight utility, quality, durability, and savings tend to resonate far more with newcomer households.

3. Multigenerational Gifting Is Much More Common

Many newcomer communities, especially South Asian, Chinese, Arab, and African families, live in multigenerational households.

As a result:

• Gifts are purchased not just for children but parents, grandparents, cousins, in-laws, and extended relatives.
• Cart sizes are bigger.
• Value bundles, family packs, and multi-item offers convert exceptionally well.

Brands that emphasize “family value,” “sharing,” or “holiday bundles” outperform those targeting individuals.

4. Trust Plays a Bigger Role in Newcomer Purchase Decisions

Canadian-born shoppers usually rely on brand familiarity or online reviews.

Newcomers, however, rely heavily on:

• Community recommendations
• Ethnic influencers
• In-language media
• WhatsApp groups
• Cultural forums
• Ethnic storefronts and flyers

This is why multicultural campaigns often outperform mainstream marketing: they speak through trusted channels, not generic mass media.

Brands that leverage in-language ads, ethnic media, and community-relevant messaging see significantly higher conversion rates.

5. Cultural Aesthetics Matter More Than Brands Realize

Holiday creative in Canada is traditionally red, green, snowy, and Santa-centric.
Newcomers may engage with these visuals, but many still resonate more with:

• Gold, deep red, and jewel tones (South Asian)
• Red + gold minimalism (Chinese)
• Blue/white winter elegance (Middle Eastern)
• Bright family-centric imagery (Caribbean & African)

Incorporating multicultural aesthetics, subtly and respectfully, can dramatically increase creative relevance and performance.

6. Newcomers Spend More on Food, Celebration, and Hosting

Hosting is a major part of newcomer communities’ holiday experience.

They often spend more on:

• Specialty ingredients
• Cultural snacks & sweets
• Holiday cooking tools
• Décor
• Bulk gifting food items

This category sees some of the strongest lifts during holiday season across ethnic households.

Brands in grocery, FMCG, and home goods should build messaging around celebration, cooking, hosting, and togetherness.

7. Loyalty Forms Faster—If the Brand Shows Cultural Respect

When a newcomer feels understood by a brand, they adopt it quickly, and often permanently.

Multicultural consumers reward brands that:

• Reflect their identity
• Speak their language
• Represent their families
• Respect their traditions

Holiday season is one of the most effective windows for cementing emotional connection and long-term loyalty.

Final Thoughts

The Canadian holiday season is no longer a single cultural moment, it’s a mosaic of traditions shaped by millions of multicultural consumers. Their spending patterns, cultural values, and purchasing motivations differ meaningfully from Canadian-born shoppers.

Brands that recognize these nuances, and activate authentically, gain:

✨ Higher engagement
✨ Stronger brand affinity
✨ Increased conversion rates
✨ Long-term loyalty

In a country where newcomers drive much of the population and economic growth, this is not a “nice to have”, it’s a competitive advantage.

If your brand is ready to unlock the true potential of multicultural holiday marketing, DV8 Communication can help you build data-driven strategies, culturally fluent messaging, and high-performance campaigns.