Handwritten declarations of love are all well and fine, but Valentine’s Day is also one of the most commercially significant events of the year. The romantic celebration has become a multibillion-dollar industry right across Canada, supporting restaurants, retailers, hotels, florists and many, many other industries. In 2025, more than a third of Canadians (37 per cent) were planning to spend money on Valentine’s Day, and most of them were both planning to spend more than the year before and to do their shopping in person, in stores, rather than online. Here’s a snapshot of how February 14 affects business in this country, according to a consumer study by Caddle in partnership with the Retail Council of Canada.
Victoria is for Lovers All Year Round
Valentine’s Day aside, Victoria has long been considered among Canada’s most romantic destinations, year after year vying with Quebec City for top spot.
It is among the country’s favourite places to honeymoon — indeed, Vancouver Island as a whole was recently named “North America’s Leading Honeymoon Destination” for 2025 by the World Travel Awards.
It’s also a popular place for weddings: Coming out of the pandemic, in the first half of 2022 more weddings were held in Victoria than any other B.C. city, with a 60.7-per-cent increase over 2021, according to the comparison platform HelloSafe.
And not only can you find an impressive collection of homegrown chocolatiers and florists in Victoria, things get naughty here, too: Hotel Zed recently introduced The Love Nest, Canada’s first hotel room intentionally designed for sex.
