Toys “R” Us is coming back to Canada, one month after the company that ran its stores went bankrupt.
It won’t look like the Toys “R” Us you remember. There are no plans to reopen the big-box stores that closed across Alberta over the past year. Instead, the brand will live inside Staples.
Staples Canada said Tuesday it will become the exclusive Canadian retailer for Toys “R” Us and a new spinoff called Parties “R” Us, with dedicated shops inside close to 300 of its stores by the end of 2027. The first one opens Nov. 14 in Richmond Hill, Ont.
For Edmonton and Calgary, where the last stores shut their doors within weeks of each other last winter, the question is when. Staples hasn’t said. But with stores in both cities, Alberta is part of the plan.
What’s actually opening
The new Toys “R” Us will be a store within a store: a dedicated section inside an existing Staples, with what the company calls a “curated” selection of toys, including exclusive items, plus products for birthdays and holidays.
Parties “R” Us is the new piece. It’ll carry balloons, party supplies, seasonal goods and licensed party products.
Both will also sell through staples.ca.
Staples hasn’t said how much floor space the shops will get, which toy brands they’ll carry, or whether every store will get both concepts.
“As a Canadian company, with close to 300 stores and 11,000 employees serving communities across every province, we’re proud to help write the next chapter for a brand that has been part of childhood in Canada for generations,” Staples Canada CEO Jens Cermak said in the announcement.
When will it reach Edmonton and Calgary?
Not yet, and no date has been announced.
The first shop opens Saturday, Nov. 14, inside the Staples at 45 Red Maple Road in Richmond Hill, north of Toronto, with activities, special offers and character appearances. After that, the rollout runs through 2027.
Staples hasn’t published a store list or a province-by-province schedule. It has said the plan covers every province, and it has stores across Alberta, including Edmonton, Calgary, Red Deer and Lethbridge.
So the honest answer for Alberta is: it’s coming, probably in 2027, and nobody has said which stores or when.
How Toys “R” Us Canada collapsed
A year ago, the chain had about 40 stores. In November 2025, the three Edmonton-area locations were listed for sale as vacant properties. On Boxing Day, Calgary’s last store, on Macleod Trail, closed with no announcement.
Read more: Calgary Says Goodbye to Toys R Us: The End of an Era on Macleod Trail
On Feb. 3, 2026, Toys “R” Us (Canada) Ltd. filed for creditor protection with 22 stores left. It had closed more than 50 in the previous two years and was facing lawsuits from suppliers and landlords.
What happened next is why the brand is back but the stores aren’t. The court-supervised sale split the company in pieces:
July 10: A company linked to retailer Doug Putman bought most of the remaining business and assets.
July 13: Ad Populum, a U.S. company, bought the Toys “R” Us Canada intellectual property, about 150 trademarks.
Aug. 13: The court cleared the way for the shell company to be put into bankruptcy.
Oct. 5: Toys “R” Us (Canada) Ltd. was assigned into bankruptcy, with Fuller Landau appointed trustee. Creditors met Oct. 23.
So the company that owed money went bankrupt. The brand name had already been sold out of it three months earlier.
Who owns Toys “R” Us Canada now
The trademarks are held by Next Century Ipco Can ULC, connected to Ad Populum. Next Century is licensing the brand to Staples.
“We’ll be in more stores than ever before,” Next Century CEO Joel Weinshanker said. At its peak, Toys “R” Us Canada had just over 100 stores. Three hundred Staples locations would triple that.
Financial terms weren’t disclosed.
What about old Toys “R” Us gift cards?
This is the question a lot of parents will have, and the answer isn’t good.
When the old company filed for creditor protection in February, it had more than $36 million in unredeemed gift cards on its books. It stopped accepting them after Feb. 16.
The Staples announcement doesn’t mention them. Staples and Next Century are different companies from the one that sold the cards, and nothing in Tuesday’s release suggests they’ll honour them.
If you’re holding one, don’t expect to use it at a Staples. If that changes, the companies would have to say so.
Will it be the same?
No, and Staples isn’t pretending it will be.
The old stores averaged about 45,000 square feet of toys, games, bikes and Babies “R” Us. The new ones are a section of a Staples. The upside is convenience: toys, school supplies and a birthday party in one trip. The trade-off is range.
Whether it works comes down to what’s on the shelves and what it costs. The first test is Nov. 14 in Richmond Hill. For Alberta, the next thing to watch is a store list.
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