Boxing Day – Canada’s Premier Shopping Day, Could Mean Traffic!

Everyone is familiar with Black Friday shopping, but if you’re not from Canada, you may be less familiar with Boxing Day.

Known as Canada’s premier shopping day, Boxing Day is the day after Christmas, sometimes known as the second day of Christmas. Usually, you will find most Canadians observing the holiday in typical fashion, spending time with loved ones, and exploring potential sales at retail locations.

Today, the team here at LYT will give you a super quick rundown on Boxing Day, what it entails, and the traffic tips to utilize since sometimes there can be congestion!

Quick origins of Boxing Day

Boxing Day started with Christmas boxes in Britain and the kindness of giving those in need money or gifts as far back as the 1600s. While there is no definitive origin, the day after Christmas, also known as the Second Day of Christmas, has long been celebrated by many European countries.

Canada considers the day a Federal Holiday with Government offices closed, but it is also a known shopping day, comparable to Black Friday in the United States.

While shopping deals are what most people are searching for when they think of Boxing Day, we decided to give you some insider tips for dealing with traffic!

Boxing Day & the impact on traffic

Whenever you mention shopping right before Christmas Day or right after, you also have to mention delays.

Delays from the traffic in the parking lot, the long lines at the checkout, and the heavier-than-normal volume in the stores. Here at LYT, we have a few tips for traffic and safety (sorry, we don’t have any tips for the crowded stores other than shopping online or earlier 😉)!

Here are some simple tips to always help you manage traffic and congested shopping areas:

1. Give yourself plenty of time to get to your destination. Patience is a must when experiencing heavy traffic volumes around shopping centers and malls. Keep in mind some traffic lights are not programmed to adjust with live traffic unless they have LYT Speed technology.
2. Try your best to make a day of the event by getting lunch and shopping early or later. This will help spread out the traffic and hopefully help reduce it some. You increase the chances of experiencing less volume when you go early or later!
3. In the event of an emergency, yield to emergency vehicles so they can get to their destination quicker. Emergency response times are vital for emergency vehicles so be mindful of potential accidents/emergencies.

Hopefully, these easy tips will help you win some deals and keep you safely traveling to and from store to store! If you are looking for the best Boxing Day deals, visit your favorite stores online!

For more traffic and transportation-related news, follow the LYT Blog!

Note: This blog post is part of our on-the-road series, designed to help motorists, traffic managers, and everyone in between with common road safety tips & transportation information. Got a question or topic you would like to know more about? Reach out to us and let us know!