Canadian Tire pulls out of its massive warehouse complex in Brampton

Canadian Tire is leaving its 1.5 million sq-ft warehouse and distribution centre in Brampton.

The company announced today (Nov. 15) it has sold the site for $258 million to an unnamed buyer through a bidding process.

Located at Steeles Avenue and Bramalea Road, the 93-acre site has been a huge presence in Brampton supplying jobs in the community for more than half a century.

“Fifty years ago, this site was a first-of-its-kind in Canada and a fundamental building block for our supply chain,” Greg Hicks, Canadian Tire’s president and CEO, said in the Friday morning announcement. “In that same spirit, we have been investing and evolving, introducing modern and sophisticated facilities in the region, which are key to our supply chain of the future.”

The company says the distribution centre is no longer needed and instead will operate out of newer, more modern, more highly automated facilities in the Greater Toronto Area.

It is not known how it will affect jobs at the site or if workers will be transferred to other facilities.

“Our need for the site has decreased significantly in recent years,” Hicks continued. “This transaction offers a clear example of our ability to surface shareholder value from surplus real estate assets.”

When it first opened, the distribution centre was the largest of its kind in Canada and was one of the first to be computerized in the sorting and collection of stock.

Canadian Tire warehouse at Steeles Avenue and Bramalea Road in Brampton