Canadian business owners say the federal government's GST holiday was a gift but not one that inspired the flurry of sales some anticipated.
The Imaginaire toy stores in Quebec and Ontario saw a 15 per cent sales increase in January but co-owner Dave Doyon says it's hard to parse out whether that was inspired by the tax break, marketing or people looking for more indoor entertainment during the cold weather.
Doyon says he doesn't think the break prompted much spending because it only knocked a few dollars off most purchases.
Data from payments processor Moneris showed the number of transactions across all stores during the tax relief period fell four per cent when compared with the same period the year before.
Hobby, toy and game stores, which some thought would be the biggest beneficiary of the break, saw a four per cent drop in transactions.
That's in line with what the Swag Sisters' Toy Store in Toronto saw. Shopkeeper Erin Salisbury says the tax break amounted to a lot of work for no real gain.