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Community Impact

Our Commitment

We are committed to supporting opportunities for all by investing in the communities where we operate.

The communities we serve are an integral part of our identity and values. Our objective is to make Canada a better place for all by actively engaging our employees and store networks to partner with community organizations, governments and other businesses. We aim to promote community growth and development through these initiatives.

Recognizing our corporate responsibility towards society, we collaborate with community partners, all levels of government and other businesses to collectively strengthen our communities. We provide our communities with employment and business opportunities, access to high-quality products and services, and a dependable source of tax revenue. In turn, our communities provide us with a steady employee pipeline, an active consumer base and dependable domestic vendors.

We demonstrate our promise to our communities through our entire group of companies. From providing jobs for newcomers to Canada to helping kids overcome financial and accessibility barriers to sport, we are committed to making a difference to help secure Canada’s – and CTC’s – future prosperity.

We Are Here to Make Life in Canada Better by strengthening communities through the provision of economic opportunities, national- and local-level giving, and meaningful engagement.

Our Approach

1

Strengthening local economies across Canada

Together with our Dealers, we support communities in Canada by providing good jobs, working with an extensive network of local vendors to grow our product assortment and supporting families in their day-to-day lives. Our roots in Canadian communities run deep. Over the past 100 years, we have forged meaningful and long-lasting relationships from coast to coast with our customers, our employees, our suppliers and the communities we serve, becoming an integral component of local economies across Canada.

Based on an Economic Impact Report we commissioned in 2022, it is estimated that CTC and our Dealers have contributed approximately $150 billion to the Canadian economy in the 10 years preceding 2022. The assessment also found that CTC and our Dealers generated an estimated $18 billion in gross value added – equivalent to supporting 160,000 Canadian jobs or 1% of the Canadian economy – in 2021 alone. With an estimated one in twenty Canadians having worked at CTC, including 380,000 first-time job seekers, we have proudly influenced the careers of Canadians for decades.

Maple leaf made from hockey sticks at Canadian Tire Store, Edmonton, Alberta

For more information about how CTC supports Canadians and contributes to the economy, read the Canadian Tire Corporation Economic Impact Report.

We are proud of our economic investment in local Canadian economies, as announced in our $3.4-billion Better Connected strategic investment plan in March of 2022. As part of the plan, we intend to invest $1.2 billion in our Canadian Tire store network to better connect our digital and physical channels, modernizing and creating a more contemporary experience for customers and making the Triangle brand a trusted source for the products and services customers need. We plan to refresh about 50% of the 2021 Canadian Tire store retail square footage and increase our total store network square footage by almost 10%. This investment will change how Canadian Tire shows up for communities across Canada, as we replace, upgrade and add new stores in growing suburban areas and smaller markets like Chilliwack, British Columbia, which opened in 2022, and Mont-Tremblant and Sherbrooke, Quebec, both scheduled to open in 2023. In 2022, we also achieved a milestone with the launch of our first two large format “Remarkable Retail” stores, in Ottawa and Welland, Ontario, adding more than 92,000 in retail square footage combined. We plan to open our next Remarkable Retail store in Calgary, Alberta, in 2025.

As we invest in our store network, we recognize the importance of taking environmental impacts into consideration, with an eye to how they can contribute to our 2030 GHG emission reduction targets. For more information about our environmental efforts, including our net zero ready1 building prototype, please see our Climate Change section.

Our investments not only drive growth for CTC – they also create jobs. In addition to our investment in stores, we invest in strengthening local communities through economic support for those who are new to Canada. Whether one arrives as a student, as a permanent resident or with refugee status, entry into a new country can be overwhelming. CTC offers many ways to help newcomers integrate into life in Canada. Many of our Dealers run local programs to hire and train new Canadians, offering employment and local community support. Offering competitive wages and practical job training across CTC’s network of stores is vital to growing our local economies and providing opportunities to everyone in Canada.

Supporting newcomers with Canoo

In 2022, we began a partnership with the Institute for Canadian Citizenship to support newcomers to Canada. One of our first initiatives was “Canoo”, a mobile app that helps newcomers unlock the best of what Canada has to offer. Canoo is free for all new Canadian citizens and permanent residents for one year and provides exclusive perks such as free or discounted access to cultural experiences, outdoor activities and essential products. Starting in 2023, select CTC banners will be providing exclusive discounts through Canoo to newcomers, providing a small helping hand as they integrate into life in Canada.

2

Supporting Jumpstart in achieving its mission

Since 2005, Canadian Tire Jumpstart Charities (Jumpstart) has been helping kids in need overcome financial and accessibility barriers to sport and play. As an independent registered charity, Jumpstart receives donations and sponsorships from various sources. CTC is proud to be Jumpstart’s biggest supporter, providing funding for all general administrative expenses to ensure that 100% of donations go directly towards helping kids play. Our customers, employees, Dealers, vendors and other CTC business partners also contribute through fundraising and volunteering to advance Jumpstart’s mission.

In 2022, Jumpstart provided funding to over 700 community sport and recreation organizations in Canada, creating opportunities for over 440,000 kids2 in the process – the most in any single year to date. Jumpstart also collaborated with municipalities and Dealers to build nine new inclusive play spaces for kids of all abilities. Since 2017, Jumpstart has supported the development of 42 inclusive play spaces in Canada, covering almost 500,000 square feet.

Multiple children wearing Jumpstart branded clothing in sports center

Proudly supporting a milestone year for Jumpstart

In 2022, Jumpstart celebrated an impressive milestone: providing over three million opportunities for kids across Canada to participate in sport and play since 2005.2 This achievement would not have been attainable without the combined efforts of CTC banners, employees, vendors, Dealers and customers, who helped raise $26.7 million for Jumpstart in 2022.

Learn more about Jumpstart’s work in its 2022 Annual Report.

3

Driving inclusion in sport

As part of our Brand Purpose to make life in Canada better, we proudly support efforts that foster equity and inclusion in sport. We believe that all people – regardless of culture, race, ability or identity – deserve equitable opportunities to participate and succeed through sport.

In 2022, we supported numerous organizations and initiatives to help level the playing field for all Canadians and foster positive change in sport, including:

  • Women’s Para Hockey of Canada: We were a founding partner of the #SticksIn campaign, which aims to raise $1 million from the corporate community to help the Women’s National Para Team compete on the world stage.
  • The Hockey Diversity Alliance: We teamed up to provide opportunities for marginalized youth across Canada to learn and play hockey.
  • The Carnegie Initiative: We sponsored the Herbert Carnegie Trailblazer Award to recognize unsung heroes working to change the culture of hockey to ensure that it is inclusive for all players.
  • Professional Women’s Hockey Players’ Association (PWHPA): We proudly supported PWHPA’s first All-Star Weekend alongside the Ottawa Senators at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa.
  • Premier Hockey Federation (PHF): We continued our partnership with the Toronto Six and became a founding sponsor of the newest Canadian team, the Montreal Force.

Aligning our sponsorship activities with our Core Values

In October 2022, after careful consideration, we made the difficult decision to end our partnership with Hockey Canada. In our view at the time, Hockey Canada had not taken material steps towards implementing meaningful change and we could no longer confidently move forward in partnership. We remain committed to the sport and have re-directed funding towards hockey-related organizations that better align with our values and brand purpose. One of those organizations is the Respect Group – an organization focused on preventing bullying, abuse, harassment and discrimination. In February 2023, together with the Respect Group, CTC launched the #PlayItSafe campaign, which provided free access to Respect Group’s online training resources through to the end of April to encourage Canadians to learn more about making hockey a fun, safe and respectful sport. As an organization, CTC remains committed to supporting hockey and sports that are inclusive and safe for all Canadians, and we continue to work closely with all our partners to drive positive change.

Committing to gender equity in sport

In March 2023, we announced the Women’s Sport Initiative, a multi-million-dollar investment to help level the playing field, with a commitment to allocating 50% of our sports sponsorship spend to women’s professional sports by 2026. The Women’s Sport Initiative also includes a dedicated media fund to increase the visibility of women’s sport across top broadcast, digital and social platforms, which will cultivate a new era of growth and opportunity for women’s sports leagues and players in Canada. For more details, see our press release.

Women hockey players celebrating
4

Helping local communities

All social issues require multi-sectoral support to move the needle. We are proud to support communities across Canada through donations of products, services and resources. In 2022, we supported over 60 organizations, including:

  • Orange Shirt Society: We raised over $240,000 through Orange Shirt sales and initiatives in support of Truth and Reconciliation with Indigenous communities.
  • Canadian Forces Morale and Welfare Services: We continued our partnership, donating nearly $100,000 in funds and in-kind donations to help provide members and families of the Canadian Armed Forces with programs and services that build their self-reliance, resilience and readiness by enhancing their mental, social, physical and financial well-being.
  • Treat Accessibly: We supported the expansion of this organization’s accessible Halloween festivals across multiple cities, making Halloween more inclusive for over 8,000 kids and adults.

We are especially proud of the support that we provide communities during emergencies and disasters. When the unexpected happens, we call upon our enterprise-wide strengths, our vast network of stores and our management team to bring immediate assistance to impacted and vulnerable people. We strive to be the cornerstone of support in Canada during times of crisis, working to enhance the resiliency of our communities through our disaster relief efforts, and while immediate response is critical, we place an expanded emphasis on preparedness and rebuilding. For example, in 2022:

  • We formalized our long-standing partnership with the Canadian Red Cross and joined the Red Cross Disaster Relief Alliance, which brings together leading Canadian corporations to increase the Red Cross’ capacity to respond during times of need. Our agreement with the Red Cross encompasses support for Indigenous programming and emergency management, which includes building emergency resilience and preparedness capacity.
  • We ran campaigns generating over $1.8 million by means of corporate, customer and employee donations. Through this collective effort, we were able to donate over $1.4 million in support of the Ukraine Humanitarian Crisis Appeal and $400,000 in support of the Hurricane Fiona in Canada Appeal.
  • We became one of the four launch partners of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada’s Canadian Industry for Ukraine donation portal and worked with the Canadian Immigrant Settlement Sector Alliance and 11 provincial and territorial coordinating partners to allocate and coordinate donations in support of Ukrainian refugees. In total, the donations helped over 8,000 individuals through the coordination of 115 settlement agencies.
Members of the Kemptville Canadian Tire and community celebrating the collection of toys for a toy drive

Dealers giving back to their local communities

No one understands Canadian communities quite like our Dealers. They are independent entrepreneurs who support their communities through hundreds of activities, donations and sponsorships. Here is a small snapshot of the impact our Dealers made in 2022:

  • The High River, Alberta Canadian Tire store participated in the Salvation Army Toy Drive, culminating in a festive event at the store with Santa, food and live radio coverage. The Dealer issued a community challenge and pledged to personally match cash donations up to $15,000. The initiative raised over $40,000 for the Salvation Army Toy Drive and an additional $5,000 for Jumpstart.
  • Our Mission, British Columbia Dealer donated over $3,000 worth of outdoor sporting equipment, including kayaks, life jackets, tents, archery sets, soccer balls and frisbees, to an inclusive camp for young adults and children with medical conditions or disabilities, allowing the camp to run at full capacity for the first time since pandemic closures.
  • Our Kemptville, Ontario Dealer hosted a community event, the Spirit of Giving Toy and Food Drive, where families donated 1,300 lbs of food, 300 toys and $2,600, while enjoying fun activities and entertainment.

Learn more about how CTC and our Dealers support local communities

Apply for local community support

CTC is supported by a passionate, national network of Dealers who are always looking to support their communities in meaningful ways. Every Canadian Tire and Party City location is operated by a Dealer living in the community they serve. When we give at the local level, we’re able to make a real difference in the lives of Canadians.

Above and beyond the Dealers’ significant involvement in Jumpstart, our stores invest heavily in local programs that help Canadian communities thrive, encouraging participation in physical activity, sports and outdoor recreation.

To submit a request for sponsorship or donation, click the button below. Please note that as a proud Canadian company, we focus our funding on programs that are offered within Canada.

Apply
Volunteers sorting tomatoes in support of Canadian Red Cross
5

Encouraging our employees to give back to their local communities

In addition to monetary and product donations, we know that volunteering our time, skills and expertise can help support local communities. Volunteering at the employee level builds a stronger culture of giving within the Company, and ensures our employees have a better understanding of the needs and challenges facing their communities.

In 2022 we launched Community Changemakers, an enterprise-wide employee volunteer program. The program provides eligible employees with the opportunity to use 10 hours of paid time off per year to support Jumpstart, Jumpstart beneficiaries and other community partners like the Canadian Red Cross.

Volunteers standing in front of a Canadian Red Cross branded truck

Supporting humanitarianism in partnership with the Red Cross

CTC has a long-standing relationship with the Canadian Red Cross. Many of our employees support the Canadian Red Cross through its Mobile Food Bank program, an initiative that delivers food to people unable to access a food bank due to permanent or temporary disability. In 2022, our employee volunteers packed over 400 food hampers and almost 400 bags of produce for the Mobile Food Bank. We also support the Red Cross Missing Maps project, a global effort that involves accurately mapping areas that were previously unmapped to ensure that first responders and humanitarians have this crucial information during emergencies and disasters. In 2022, more than 60 employees volunteered for six Missing Maps sessions, helping to map almost 8,200 buildings in South Africa, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Maximizing volunteer opportunities across our enterprise

Our banners, Dealers and franchisees devote significant effort to support volunteer opportunities for employees. Here are a few of the ways that our banners and their employees gave back in 2022:

  • Canadian Tire Bank – Employees volunteered over 2,250 hours across more than 300 community-based volunteer roles
  • Mark’s – Employees donated their time and blood during the Calgary Corporate Charity Challenge, which saw a 94% increase in blood donations compared to the prior year
  • CT REIT – Held an Earth Day Community Clean-up event, which saw its employees collect almost 900 lbs of debris
  • SportChek – Organized five volunteer-based events called Community Chek Ins, designed to empower employees to make local impacts in their communities through sporting and nature events that support local advocacy groups and initiatives.

1 A “net zero ready” building is designed to maximize energy efficiency and incorporate renewable energy generation post-construction (if needed) to offset GHG emissions.

2 Based on the total number of opportunities in sport and recreation provided through Jumpstart’s Individual Child, Community Development, Parasport Jumpstart Fund Grants, Sport Relief Fund, Play from Home, and Strategic Partnerships since 2005.

Unless otherwise indicated, information in this ESG Report is provided for the 2022 fiscal year. For further information on our approach to ESG reporting, including our Glossary, which sets out definitions of capitalized terms and acronyms that are not otherwise defined on this page, and our forward-looking information disclaimer, please click here.