It's Black Friday in the United States, but the deals are also on in Saskatchewan and shoppers were out early looking for bargains.

Kelly McGillivray travelled about 200 kilometres from Maidstone, Sask. to Saskatoon to search for a special deal on a laptop.

Lining up outside an electronics store before it opened Friday morning, she said it was worth it.

"We came up here just for this," said McGillivray. "[My friend] went to the States last year, and we didn't want to hit any storms, so we'll do Canada."

Yasha Rassi, a product expert at Future Shop, said Black Friday in Canada is a direct effort to keep shoppers from going to the United States.

"We like Canadians to keep shopping in Canada so it seems sad to lose our fellow Canadians shopping across borders," said Rassi.

Instead of going out to find discounts, some people are doing it online, from the comfort of home.

Regardless how people choose to shop, Ruth Robinson, a board member with the Saskatchewan Consumers Association had some advice.

"Before you go out shopping on Black Friday, you might want to read the flyers carefully," said Robinson.

"Research the deals that they have, go online on their website and other people's websites and check competitor's prices to make sure this is a good deal."

Black Friday originated in the United States on the day after Thanksgiving, with stores dropping prices as a kickoff to Christmas shopping.

Shoppers there are expected to spend $11.4 billion US on this day alone.