Canadian retailers are trying to keep shoppers from travelling south for Black Friday sales by holding massive shopping sales of their own – starting today and lasting all weekend.

This is the first year Halifax stores are making a mass effort to keep customers local on what is the biggest cross-border shopping day of the year.

“Black Friday is one of the biggest shopping days, aside from Boxing Day,” said Best Buy’s product process supervisor Matt Leblanc. “Especially in Canada where we had never participated in it before, most retailers have realized this is a large day for consumers.”

A Staples Canada survey showed 40 per cent of Canadians plan to shop on Black Friday and Cyber Monday this year, almost double the number of Canadians who have shopped in the past.

There is a concerted effort to keep those customers local.

Halifax Shopping Centre’s marketing director said there were many shops in the mall that had deals last year, but this year mall management is throwing its weight behind promoting a weekend-long event.

“We’ll be holding a wine tasting Friday,” said Stephanie Guilfoyle. “Santa, he’s arriving here on Saturday morning with the help of a special guest from Neptune Theatre. We’re also doing a ‘men’s den’ on Sunday. (We are) encouraging some of the men to kick-off their Christmas shopping with some beer tasting from Garrison and some complementary gift wrapping.”

The Staples Canada survey also showed 63 per cent of shoppers this weekend will be buying electronics such as desktops, laptops, tablets and e-readers.