Canada

Hudson's Bay to Cut Over 8,300 Jobs by June 1

Published MAY 28 2025

Story

Above: A plaque displaying the coat of arms of the Hudson's Bay Company outside its store in Toronto, Canada, on April 5, 2025. Image credit: Mike Campbell/NurPhoto via Getty Images

The Facts

The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), Canada's oldest retailer founded in 1670, will terminate 8,347 employees (89% of its workforce) by June 1, 2025, as it closes all 96 stores following its March creditor protection filing.
Reuters
CTVNews
The company will lay off another 899 workers by June 15 once it closes its distribution centers, after which the remaining 118 employees will assist in fulfilling HBC's obligations under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act.
CBC
Financial Post
Employees will receive pay for accrued vacation but no severance packages from the company, while roughly 2,200 retirees will lose their health, dental, and life insurance benefits, and 183 former and current staff will lose their disability benefits. Pensions, however, will continue.
The Globe and Mail
Global News
Instead, the company is seeking a court order on June 3 that would trigger employees' entitlement to the Wage Earner Protection Program (WEPP), which provides up to CA$8,844.22 ($6,394.15) per employee to help workers claim wages, severance, or benefits owed by bankrupt companies.
Upfhlaw
BNN Bloomberg
HBC will also go to court to gain approval for a $30 million deal sealed with Canadian Tire earlier this month, which would sell the company’s intellectual property to the retailer, including its motif, logos, and coat of arms.
CTVNews
CBC
HBC began liquidating its stores in March but originally intended to keep six, including its flagship Toronto store. The plan failed, however, as it prevented the company from raising the approximately $1 billion needed to pay its creditors, and HBC entered full liquidation in April.
Financial Post
BNN Bloomberg
Global News

Sources Split

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The Spin

Narrative A

It's deeply regrettable that the Hudson's Bay Company, a staple of Canadian history, has to be liquidated. However, because of rising debts, dwindling revenues, and fierce competition from digital platforms, HBC was no longer viable as a business. Despite this, the company is doing everything it can to protect its workforce from seeking a court order triggering their Wage Earner Protection Program rights to possibly establishing a hardship fund.

Financial Post

Business Wire

Narrative B

When corporations make blunders, it is always the workforce that pays for it, and the case of the Hudson’s Bay Company is no different. Thousands of workers have been terminated without severance, and the Wage Earner Protection Program benefits they find themselves relying on are insufficient to compensate for lost wages and benefits. The federal government must respond through urgent insolvency reforms to prevent injustices like this from occurring.