Windsorites staying on par with Halloween spending: Survey

Some Windsor residents will cut back their spending on Halloween. Others have said they will spend the same amount of money on Halloween candy and costumes as years past, despite a rocky economy.

A new poll suggests more than a quarter will spend $100 or more.

That's according to polling firm Leger, which surveyed 1,520 adults this month on their Halloween habits.

The poll also suggests Canadians will spend an average of $67.65 on Halloween-related expenses -- an amount that rises to $121.57 among parents.

“Like anything else, it's crazy the prices,” Windsor resident, Tara Burke, told CTV News on Wednesday while she was out shopping.

“I can't believe how expensive everything is. People are suffering.”

The survey said 27 per cent of respondents indicated their household will spend $100 or more this year on Halloween costumes, events, candy and decor.

“You don't want to pay top dollar, but then again, you don’t want to be too cheap, you know?” said another Windsor shopper, Stellios Salvarakis.

More than half of those households have children, which Leger said makes Halloween celebrations more likely.

“I have two older boys,” said Peter Toth.

“I really don't have to spend too much and not too many kids come around, so I spend maybe $50 max.”

But another 27 per cent of respondents said they will not spend a single dollar on the spooky day.

The poll also suggested that Canadians are split on handing out Halloween candy this year. 47 per cent of respondents said they'll be doling out treats, while the same percentage said they'll skip the tradition.

More than a third said they'll keep their candy budget under $20.

The majority of respondents with children old enough to go trick-or-treating said their kids will be knocking on doors Thursday, but just a quarter of adults said they would celebrate Halloween themselves.

The Halloween spirit seemed to be higher among parents and those aged 18 to 34, the survey found.

The poll was conducted online from Oct. 25 to 27. It cannot be assigned a margin of error because online surveys are not considered truly random samples.

- With files from the Canadian Press