Nearly six million Canadians are believed to have spent almost $2 billion chasing Boxing Day sales, with clothing and electronics as the hottest items.

Province	Planned to shop on Boxing Day (% of population)	Planned to spend, on average:
Atlantic Canada	17	$184
Quebec	25	$285
Ontario	31	$414
Manitoba	23	$231
Saskatchewan	23	$231
Alberta	26	$384
British Columbia	29	$279
Source: Maritz Research

Many bargain hunters began lining up at some stores in the middle of the night to snag a deal.

"It's only two, three hours wait, so it's not so bad," said one shopper, standing in the cold and waiting until 6 a.m. ET for the doors to open at one of Future Shop's outlets in Toronto.

Boxing Day shoppers rush into the downtown Montreal Future Shop Store on Tuesday.
(Peter McCabe/Canadian Press)

Boxing Day is the second biggest retail day of the year. Shoppers were expected to spend $1.9 billion — an average of $328 each, estimated a survey conducted by Maritz Research in early November and released by Visa Canada on Tuesday. The total is just under the $2.3 billion spent on the busiest pre-Christmas shopping day.

The poll of people in all the provinces found that Ontarians were most likely to say they would hit the stores — at 31 per cent of respondents.

People in Atlantic Canada said they were least likely to leave the comfort of home to pack into malls, at 17 per cent. Most stores in Nova Scotia remained closed on Boxing Day, despite being allowed to legally open their doors on the holiday for the first time in years.

The survey also found that 58 per cent of respondents were in search of gifts for the holiday season.

'I'm doing Christmas shopping for me now.'-Man shopping in Toronto

The highest number of gift shoppers were in Ontario, at 70 per cent, and the lowest in Alberta, at 41 per cent.

But one man in Toronto told CBC News he had another agenda.

"I'm doing Christmas shopping for me now," he said.

Another early-bird shopper in the city said the lineups hadn't been too bad, "but make sure you have your exit strategy planned."

According to Visa, those not shopping will be:

• Staying home and eating leftovers (27 per cent).
• Visiting family and friends (22 per cent).
• Doing nothing (six per cent).
• Working (six per cent).

Boxing Day sales started early on internet

Some shoppers got to jump the gun on the internet, as the electronic giants Future Shop and Best Buy began year-end sales online on Christmas Eve.

The tactic attracted "a large volume of people" to Future Shop's website, company spokeswoman Cheryl Grant told the Canadian Press.

The telephone survey was conducted by Maritz Research from Nov. 1 to Nov. 6. The company interviewed 1,508 male and female adult respondents. The results are considered accurate, plus or minus 2.2 per cent, 19 times out of 20.

With files from the Canadian Press