Canadian Tire Corporation Donation to displaced Ukrainians arriving in Canada under the ‘Canada-Ukraine authorization for emergency travel’

The Canadian Tire Corporation, one of the four launch partners of ISED’s ‘Canadian Industry for Ukraine donation portal’, donated a generous $249,850 in gift cards (4,997 gift cards of $50 denomination) for: Canadian Tire, Sport Chek, Sports Expert and Mark’s.

CISSA-ACSEI worked with eleven provincial and territorial coordinating partners to allocate and coordinate the donations (see the Corporate Donation Process Map). To ensure equity between provinces and territories, donations were allocated based on available data including Financial Assistance data from Employment and Social Development Canada which provides percentages of displaced Ukrainians who applied for financial assistance in each province or territory. In coordination with the provincial and territorial partners, the settlement agencies distributed the donated items to displaced Ukrainians in their communities.

The table below illustrates the first stage of the allocation process which is based on the Financial Assistance from Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) in each provinces indicating percentages of displaced Ukrainians in the provinces, to ensure equity in the allocation between provinces and territories.

After assessing the local needs in the settlement agencies, provincial and territorial coordinating partners had the opportunity to indicate the needed percentage of each banner (Canadian Tire, Sport Chek/Sports Experts, and Mark’s)- thus calculating the quantity of the gift cards for each banner. In total: 2,990 Canadian Tire gift cards, 849 Sport Chek gift cards, 145 Sports Experts gift cards, and 1,013 Mark’s gift cards.

Gift cards were mailed to provincial and territorial coordinating partners, who proceeded to distribute the gift cards to the relevant settlement agencies in their province. Settlement agencies in communities throughout Canada distributed gift cards to displaced Ukrainians and other displaced people in need in Canada.

Allocation process of the donation in formed by ESDC's Financial Assistance Data

CISSA-ACSEI has created an interactive map for Canadian Tire Corporation to visualize where gift cards were distributed. The visualization depicts the percentage of allocation for each province and territory and illustrates the distributed number of gift cards by each brand under Canadian Tire Corporation. The amount was determined by ESDC’s Transitional Financial Assistance Data as well as the required amount by the provincial and territorial partners.

The interactive visualization enables the donor to get a sense of the impact of the donation and its reach everywhere in Canada.

In total, 4,997 gift cards were distributed to displaced Ukrainians throughout the country:

• By 115 settlement agencies in all 10 Canadian provinces
• In 86 different communities
• From larger cities such as Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary, to smaller communities
• Approximately 8,209 individuals benefited from those gift cards

To raise awareness and highlight the incredible stories and contributions of Canadian businesses in supporting displaced Ukrainians in Canada, CISSA-ACSEI has developed a video series to share the human side of migration stories, helping to provide context behind the numbers and encourage others to get involved.

These stories show different perspectives, whether hearing directly from displaced Ukrainians, the volunteers that are lending a hand, or the settlement workers coordinating on the ground.

Due to financial limitations, videos are not professionally shot. These videos will be shared on CISSA-ACSEI’s online platforms, including web and social media.

Given the sensitive nature of the Ukrainian conflict, we offered the possibility to participants to not reveal their identity.

This video can give the donor an idea about the impact of corporate donations supporting displaced Ukrainians, as well as the reach of the donation.

Anna, London, ON 

“I want to thank Canadian Tire for this gift certificate that will help me buy a blender to make delicious and healthy smoothies for my children.” 

Ihor, Toronto, ON 

“Thanks to Canadian Tire uh, for this gift certificate. I’m planning to buy a Christmas tree, uh, and celebrate my first New Year in Canada.” 

Victoria, Mississauga, ON 

“I want to thank Canadian Tire for the opportunity to buy things that I need. This very helpful for me. Thank you again and Merry Christmas.”

CISSA-ACSEI, the Government of Canada, the provincial and territorial coordinating partners, as well as the settlement agencies would like to join their voice to these of the displaced Ukrainians to thank Canadian Tire Corporation for their generous donation and the impact it had in the lives of displaced people in need. Дякую!