Canadian Tire facts for kids
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Exterior of the Canadian Tire headquarters (2020)
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Trade name
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Canadian Tire |
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| Public | |
| Traded as | |
| Industry | Retail |
| Founded | October 24, 1922 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
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| Headquarters | Canada Square, Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
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Number of locations
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1,686 (2018) |
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Area served
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Canada |
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Key people
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Greg Hicks (president and CEO) |
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| Revenue |  CA$17.810 billion (2022) |
| CA$1.182 billion (2022) |
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| Total assets | CA$22.102 billion (2022) |
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Number of employees
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58,000 |
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Canadian Tire Corporation, Limited is a big Canadian company. It sells many different things like car parts, tools for your home, sports gear, and items for fun activities. You can find its main office in Toronto, Ontario.
The main Canadian Tire stores sell general items, but the company also has gas stations called Canadian Tire Petroleum. They also offer financial services through Canadian Tire Bank. A famous part of Canadian Tire is its loyalty program, which started in 1958 with paper coupons that looked like money, called Canadian Tire money.
Canadian Tire also owns other popular stores. These include Mark's (for clothing), FGL Sports (which includes Sport Chek and Sports Experts for sports gear), PartSource (for car parts), and the Canadian stores of Party City. In 2018, Canadian Tire bought the clothing company Helly Hansen. In 2025, Canadian Tire also bought the brand names and ideas from the old Hudson's Bay Company.
Contents
The History of Canadian Tire
How Canadian Tire Started
On October 24, 1922, two brothers, John William Billes and Alfred Jackson Billes, started their business. They put together $1,800 of their own money to buy a company in Toronto. This company was called Hamilton Tire and Garage Ltd. It was good at buying tires cheaply in winter and selling them for more in summer. The brothers opened their first retail store in Toronto.
In 1927, they changed the company's name to Canadian Tire Corporation Limited. Alfred Jackson Billes said it "sounded big." A year later, in 1928, Canadian Tire started handing out its first catalogues. These books showed prices and even included road maps.
Growing Across Canada
In 1934, the first official "Associate Store" opened in Hamilton, Ontario. This was a store owned by someone else but connected to Canadian Tire. By 1945, there were 110 Canadian Tire stores across the country. To help the company grow even more, Canadian Tire became a public company in 1944. This meant people could buy shares in the company.
In 1958, Canadian Tire opened its first gas station in Toronto. This was also when they started giving out Canadian Tire money. These special coupons gave gas customers a discount when they shopped inside the store. By 1961, there were 31 gas stations.
New Stores and Services
Canadian Tire expanded into selling clothes in 2001 when it bought Mark's Work Wearhouse. In 2003, the company created the Canadian Tire Bank. This bank handles credit cards and other financial services for customers. In 2014, Canadian Tire sold a small part of its bank to Scotiabank, but it bought that part back in 2023.
In April 2018, Canadian Tire launched a new rewards program called Triangle Rewards. This program replaced the older digital Canadian Tire Money system. However, some stores continued to offer the traditional paper Canadian Tire money until 2020.
In May 2018, the company bought Helly Hansen, a company known for its outdoor clothing. As of December 2021, Canadian Tire had 667 Canadian Tire stores, 397 SportChek stores, and 381 Mark's stores. The current leader of the company is Greg Hicks.
On May 15, 2025, Canadian Tire announced it bought the brand names and ideas of the Hudson's Bay Company. This deal was approved by a court on June 3, 2025. Canadian Tire now owns the Hudson's Bay name, logos, and even its famous stripe pattern. It also got other brands like Home Outfitters.
Trying to Expand in the U.S.
Canadian Tire tried to open stores in the United States two times. In 1982, it bought a chain of car parts stores called White Stores in Texas. But after losing a lot of money, they closed or sold these stores by 1986.
The second try was in the early 1990s. Canadian Tire opened special car parts stores called Auto Source. These stores aimed to have many different parts available. The first Auto Source opened in Indianapolis in 1991. Over the next few years, they opened ten stores in different U.S. cities. However, these stores also lost money, and Canadian Tire closed them in 1995. Even though Auto Source didn't work out in the U.S., a smaller version of the idea was used in Canada for the PartSource stores.
Canadian Tire Brands
Canadian Tire owns many of its own brands. Some of the most well-known include Mastercraft for tools and MotoMaster for car products. They also own NOMA for home goods and lights, and Simoniz for car care products.
In the 2010s, Canadian Tire started to create even more of its own brands. This helped them compete with online stores like Amazon. In 2013, they launched "Frank," a brand for everyday household items and some groceries. This brand became popular for its funny sayings on the packaging.
Canadian Tire also owns the rights to three ice hockey equipment brands. In 2011, they gained the Hespeler and Victoriaville brands. In 2018, they bought the trademarks for Sherwood Hockey. In 2017, Canadian Tire also bought Padinox, a company that makes Paderno kitchen equipment.
How Canadian Tire Works
Financial Services
Canadian Tire Bank (CTB) is the part of the company that handles credit cards and takes deposits from customers. It became a bank in 2003. In 2014, Scotiabank bought a small part of Canadian Tire Bank. Canadian Tire bought this part back in 2023.
Gas Stations
Canadian Tire Petroleum (CTP), also known as Canadian Tire Gas+, runs the company's gas stations and car washes. CTP started in 1958 to bring more customers to Canadian Tire stores. In Ontario, CTP also has Pit Stop locations for services like oil changes. The Canadian Tire money loyalty program first started at these gas stations.
In May 2023, Canadian Tire announced a new plan for its gas stations. All Canadian Tire Gas+ locations will become Petro-Canada gas stations. The Petro-Points rewards program will also join with Canadian Tire's Triangle program. The first gas station to change over opened in July 2024 in Kitchener, Ontario.
Retail Stores
Canadian Tire stores are unique in Canada because they sell so many different things. You can find car parts, sports gear, outdoor products, and even some groceries in one place. The famous Canadian Tire money is also accepted by many other stores across Canada.
In November 2000, Canadian Tire started selling things online. But in 2009, they stopped online sales because not many people were using it. They brought online shopping back in November 2013, allowing customers to order online and pick up in stores.
In 2009, Canadian Tire introduced a new "Smart store" idea. These stores had special areas for popular products like car parts and home goods, making them easier to find. Some stores even started selling common groceries as a test.
After Target Canada closed its stores in 2015, Canadian Tire took over the leases for 12 of their old locations. In June 2015, Canadian Tire opened its biggest store ever in Edmonton. It has two floors and many interactive displays, like a driving simulator.
In September 2022, Canadian Tire opened a huge new store in Ottawa to celebrate its 100th birthday. This store has a modern design and focuses on improving its car service centers and seasonal departments. The company also plans to spend a lot of money to update 225 more stores. In October 2022, Canadian Tire opened its largest store to date in Chilliwack, British Columbia.
Car Parts Stores
Besides the car parts section in Canadian Tire stores, the company also owns PartSource. This is a special chain of stores just for car parts and accessories. PartSource has 91 stores across several Canadian provinces. It helps both professional car repair shops and people who fix their own cars.
Clothing Stores
In 2001, Canadian Tire bought Mark's Work Wearhouse, which is now called Mark's. Mark's sells casual clothes and workwear. Some Canadian Tire stores even have a Mark's section inside them.
In May 2018, Canadian Tire bought the Norwegian sportswear company Helly Hansen for $985 million.
Sporting Goods Stores
In May 2011, Canadian Tire bought Forzani Group. This Canadian company owns many sporting goods stores, including SportChek, Atmosphere, and Sports Experts. In February 2021, Canadian Tire announced it would close all National Sports stores to focus on its main sports brands.
Party City Stores
In October 2019, Canadian Tire completed its purchase of Party City's business in Canada. This means Canadian Tire now runs all the Party City stores in Canada.
Marketing and Ads
Advertisements
For Christmas, Canadian Tire used to have ads with Santa Claus and Ebenezer Scrooge arguing. They would debate whether Canadian Tire's wide selection or its low prices were the best reason to shop there. Their slogan was "Give like Santa, save like Scrooge."
Canada Post even made a stamp to celebrate Canadian Tire's 75th anniversary. It showed a boy getting his first bicycle, which his dad bought at Canadian Tire.
From 1997 to 2005, Canadian Tire ads featured the "Canadian Tire couple," played by actors Ted Simonett and Gloria Slade. They would often show a new product to their neighbors.
In 2013, Canadian Tire made a commercial for its MasterCraft Eliminator Ultra car battery. The ad showed a truck made of ice to prove the battery could work in very cold weather. This ad first appeared during the 2014 NHL Winter Classic hockey game.
In March 2015, Canadian Tire started a new campaign called "Tested for Life in Canada." This campaign shows products that have been tested by regular people. Their reviews help improve the products sold at Canadian Tire.
Sports Sponsorships
Car Racing
In the 1980s, Canadian Tire sponsored an IndyCar racing team. David Billes, the son of one of the founders, was a Canadian race car driver. He later owned the car for racer Jacques Villeneuve Sr.. In 1985, Jacques Villeneuve Sr. won a race at Road America.
David Billes was added to the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame in 1994.
Canadian Tire also has the naming rights for Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, a famous race track.
Other Sports
The home arena for the Ottawa Senators hockey team is called the Canadian Tire Centre since 2013. The company also sponsors the Northern Super League, which is Canada's top women's soccer league.
Leadership
President
- John William Billes, 1927–1956
- Alfred Jackson Billes, 1956–1966
- Joseph Dean Muncaster, 1966–1985
- Dean G. Groussman, 1986–1992
- Stephen Eugene Bachand, 1993–2000
- Wayne Carlyle Sales, 2000–2006
- Thomas Kenneth Gauld, 2006–2008
- Stephen Gerald Wetmore, 2009–2014
- Michael Bennett Medline, 2014–2016
- Stephen Gerald Wetmore, 2016–2020
- Gregory Hubert Hicks, 2020–present
Chairman of the Board
- Alex Ethelred Barron, 1966–1984
- Hugh Leopold Macaulay, 1984–1994
- Herbert Earl Joudrie, 1994–1996
- Gilbert Stuart Bennett, 1996–2007
- Maureen Joanne Sabia, 2007–2022
- J. Michael Owens, 2022–present
See also
- List of Canadian department stores
- NASCAR Canadian Tire Series
