Deals on tech gadgets ahead of Black Friday

TORONTO – Black Friday, an American Thanksgiving shopping tradition, is fast approaching and Canadian retailers have jumped on the price-cutting bandwagon.

But if you are a more subdued shopper, looking to avoid some of the madness Black Friday seems to bring to stores, some Canadian retailers are already offering deals on some of this season’s hottest tech gadgets.

Camera maker Canon has already started its Black Friday sale on its website.

It’s offering a Canon EOS Rebel SL1 camera, with an EF-S 18-55mm kit lens and a EF 40mm lens, with a remote control, camera bag and a tripod for $779.99 – a savings of $400.

Canon also has a sale on its 21.1 megapixel point-and-shoot PowerShot camera, with built in WiFi, for $169.99 down from $199.99.

Best Buy and Future shop are offering $20 off the iPad Air 16 gigabyte model, making it only $499.99, until November 28.

In past years Apple has brought its Black Friday savings event to Canada – last year the tech giant was offering about $40 off of its 2012 iPad Retina model, but it’s unclear whether the new iPad Air models will see a discount this year.

Best Buy also has a 47-inch LG Smart TV on sale for $799.99, a savings of $140, until November 28.

A poll released Thursday by the Bank of Montreal says 47 per cent of Canadians it surveyed planned on shopping on Black Friday in the U.S. this year – up from 41 per cent last year – with each shopper expecting to spend an average of $292.

But, BMO finance expert Laura Parsons said Canadians continue to flock to popular cross-border destinations because they believe they can’t find the same kind of deep-discounted deals at Canadian retailers on Nov. 29.

– With files from The Canadian Press