TORONTO — The tariff fight that has broken out between the U.S. and its trading partners doesn't appear to be rankling Canadian Tire Corp. Ltd. customers as much as its CEO once expected.
Greg Hicks said shoppers across the Toronto-based company's banners — Canadian Tire, SportChek, Party City, Mark's and Pro Hockey Life — appear to be coping well with the higher duties he had worried would weigh heavily on spending.
"Despite low confidence levels, customers have been and remain more resilient than we anticipated," he told analysts on a conference call Thursday, where he noted even tariff-riddled auto manufacturing communities are showing "no clear signs of softness."
That resilience is also reflected in "healthy" spending across all income levels Canadian Tire tracks and contributed to the company seeing an eight per cent spike in spending on essentials and a one per cent rise in purchases of discretionary goods -- the first increase in this area in three years.
Hicks's rosier-than-expected outlook came as a surprise given how he told analysts in February that he was worried that the tariffs U.S. President Donald Trump was threatening could substantially erase signs of economic rebound, if they caused shoppers to cut back on purchases.
Since then, Trump has made good on many of his threats, imposing tariffs on aluminum, steel and some auto products crossing the Canada-U.S. border.
About 15 per cent of the money Canadian Tire spends on acquiring or manufacturing products is tied to the U.S. and only a "manageable fraction of that is currently affected," Hicks said.
To cope, Canadian Tire has a "tariff task force" that has been seeking alternatives to U.S. goods, negotiating with vendors and managing margins to blunt the risk of price inflation for customers.
"With limited exposure today, we have visibility to potential impacts and a plan for the balance of year should we need it," he said.
The remarks came as Canadian Tire reported its first-quarter profit fell compared with a year ago as it was hit by restructuring costs.
The retailer said its net income attributable to shareholders from continuing operations amounted to $27.3 million or 49 cents per diluted share, down from $59.9 million or $1.08 per diluted share a year ago.
Its net income attributable to shareholders from discontinued operations totalled $9.9 million or 18 cents per diluted share in its latest quarter compared with $16.9 million or 30 cents per diluted share in the same quarter last year.
On a normalized basis, it earned $2.00 per diluted share from continuing operations, up from $1.08 per diluted share a year earlier.
Revenue for the quarter totalled $3.46 billion, up from $3.33 billion in the same period last year.
Canadian Tire also announced Thursday a partnership with WestJet that will bring together their loyalty reward programs. Starting early next year, Canadian Tire said Triangle Rewards' and WestJet Rewards' members will be able to link their loyalty accounts and earn stacked rewards.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 8, 2025.
Companies in this story: (TSX:CTC)
Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press
