Ottawa shoppers brave cold weather to grab Boxing Day deals

Shoppers braved the cold weather to find Boxing Day deals at Tanger Outlets in Ottawa. Dec. 26, 2025. (Kimberley Johnson/CTV News Ottawa)

Across the city, shoppers indulged in a little post-Christmas shopping as Boxing Day deals on electronics and clothing hit the shelves on Friday.

Lorie Brind’Amour says she woke up early Friday morning to find her deal at Best Buy, after doing her research on TVs ahead of Christmas.

“First thing I did was go online and check to see what the prices were and if there were any left,” Brind’Amour said.

She says she’s been looking to make an upgrade to an older television, and that meant waiting on Boxing Day deals. Brind’Amour borrowed her nephew’s truck to carry her curbside pick-up order, an 85-inch 4K tv, back home.

“So excited about 4K,” she says. “Watching hockey in 4K is going to be just amazing. Football is life sized players, you know, it’ll be just like being at the field.”

Abbass Dahnoun says he tries to go to shopping on Boxing Day every year but this year the mission was a little different.

“I’m actually looking for a TV with my friend,” he said in an interview with CTV Ottawa. “He just moved into an apartment.”

Dahnoun says he hasn’t been able to find as steep of discounts this year as in year’s past, and today’s particular shopping trip was all about taking the time to compare prices.

“You can’t complain,” he said. “It’s better than an every-day deal.”

In the past, Boxing Day has been known as one of the busiest days for many Canadian retailers, bringing in long line ups and early morning shoppers to grab items before they sell out. According to a report from Vividata, a Canadian consumer research organization, approximately 8.6 million Canadians are expected to participate in Boxing Week shopping.

The large crowds may have some shoppers hesitant to participate, but this year, turn out in Ottawa seems strong with a steady stream of customers moving through the doors of many retailers.

Alexie Labelle says she normally avoids Boxing Day shopping but she was on the hunt for a new television Friday.

“We’ve been wanting a big TV for several months now, and we figured, ‘well, it’s Boxing Day. We might as well come and look at the prices,’ and it made sense,” she laughs. “Very need based.”

Across town, eager shoppers could be found at Tanger Outlets. Despite the cold weather, line ups could be seen outside stores like Lululemon and Nike in the early afternoon.

Ana Kralik and her sons stopped in several stores, she says paying at Lululemon required a long wait inside as well.

“Probably half an hour in the line up to pay,” Kralik says.

Signs on stores throughout the shopping area listed discounts like 40 and 50 per cent off.

Sandy Allison says she came to Tanger to make an exchange and was met with a busy parking lot.

“It’s absolutely busy. But so far, the stores I’ve gone in…there’s lots of people who are even coming up and saying, can I help you? So no complaints,” she laughs.

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