As holiday shopping ramps up, downtown districts across Canada are trying to keep spending close to home.
A growing number of cities have signed onto the Downtown Gift Card program, a prepaid Visa that can only be spent at participating local businesses.
In Charlottetown, the card can be used at more than 140 shops and restaurants, and for one day this week, it was sold at a 20 per cent discount. The goal was to attract more shoppers through the doors of small, independent stores, as many of them are starting to fill with people hunting for gifts.
“Definitely supporting your local artists and your local community,” Bria Leclair said, describing that as a priority this season. “Especially when there’s so much we already get throughout the year on Amazon.”
“It’s so important for our economy,” added Emily Duggan.
Shoppers can buy the card online and have it mailed to them, or pick it up in person at the Downtown Charlottetown Inc. office. The balance must be spent at participating stores within the downtown business improvement area, keeping the money in the core.
The sale was held three times this year, but the cards are available for purchase year-round.
‘Benefits the community’
“It’s basically putting dollars on sale,” said Downtown Charlottetown Inc. CEO Dawn Alan. “The sale started at 9:00 a.m. and we were sold out prior to 10 … it goes quickly.”
Alan says the card has a strong track record for upsell, with many shoppers likely to spend more than what’s on their card once they’re inside a store. Some purchases end up generating up to twice the loaded value.
“If it benefits a business, it benefits the community,” she said. “It means that there’s more attendance at events. It means there’s more tax base for social programs. It just goes on and on.”
As of November 2025, there are 41 Downtown Gift Card programs across Canada, according to Miconex, the company that runs the national platform.
At Bookmark, a long-standing independent bookstore in downtown Charlottetown, manager Lori Cheverie says the holiday season is important for the bottom line of many retailers, even if business is steady throughout the year.
“With the trade negotiations (involving the U.S.) and tariffs, we’ve seen a real surge of people finding it important to support local, shop local,” she said.
The store tries to apply that same principle in its own operations.
“We use local businesses where we can for everything we can, whether it’s products or services we need,” Cheverie said.
