Small businesses are urging Canadians to swing by their stores this holiday shopping season, which unofficially begins this Saturday.

Small Business Saturday began in 2010, comes the day after

Black Friday

and is meant to mark the start of the holiday shopping season and encourage shoppers to focus their buying at small businesses.

The day has grown into a major event in both Canada and the United States, where it can amount to 20 per cent of American small businesses’ annual sales,

according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

About a third of Canadian small businesses are relying on holiday season sales, according to Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB)

data

.

“The holiday season is make-or-break for thousands of small businesses across the country,” Ryan Mallough, CFIB vice-president of legislative affairs, said in a news release. “We’ve seen a really great uptick in people buying local and Canadian goods as the

Canada-U.S. trade battle

continues. “We want to see that trend continue on Small Business Saturday to kick off a strong finish to what has been an extremely turbulent year for small businesses.”

But shopping demand could be stagnant this year amid economic uncertainty, with more than 70 per cent of small businesses expecting either flat or lower sales this season.

The CFIB’s business barometer also points to a lack of demand and many Canadians appear to be cutting back. About 40 per cent are planning to trim their spending due to the rising cost of living, and more than 40 per cent are cutting back on travel and decorations, according to a recent survey by the Bank of Montreal.

But Mallough said shopping at small businesses is one of the easiest ways to support the economy.

“When you shop local, 66 cents of every dollar goes back into the community,” he said. “This holiday season,

support Canadian-owned businesses

, including franchises, or check out your local business first instead of ordering from an online giant. Let’s make every dollar count.”

Canadians seem eager to shop at small businesses this holiday season, with 65 per cent of shoppers planning to support small businesses this holiday shopping season, and 80 per cent feel genuinely proud when they’ve made a purchase from a local business, according to a survey by Xero.

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