Toys “R” Us Canada closing more stores, will ask permission to sell business: docs

TORONTO –  

As Toys “R” Us Canada prepares to ask a court for permission to put the business up for sale, it’s closing at least two more stores.

The chain has notified the landlords at the St. Laurent Centre in Ottawa and Woodgate Plaza in St. John’s, N.L., that its stores there will soon close, its chief restructuring officer Neil Taylor said in court documents filed this week.

The filings show Toys “R” Us Canada will hand back both of those properties to landlords as well as two more locations it already closed at the Niagara Pen Centre in Ontario and in Vaudreuil-Dorion, Que.

The closures are part of the retailer’s creditor protection process, which began earlier this year when it was having trouble coping with its mounting debt and lawsuits from suppliers and landlords.

A judge gave the company permission last month to conduct liquidation sales at some of its remaining 22 stores. In the two years leading up to its creditor protection application, it closed 53 stores across Canada.

The retailer will head back to court next month to get permission to launch a sales process for the business.

An affidavit from Taylor argued that sales process is “the best available option to maximize” what value is left in the company for stakeholders. It said the company will continue to operate like normal while marketing itself to buyers.

If a court gives the go-ahead, filings show anyone interested in buying the business or its assets will make bids in May before Toys “R” Us Canada will choose one or more buyers in June. 

It will aim to close on any deals it reaches by July 13 — the same date the company will ask a court next week to extend its reprieve from creditors until.

A Toys “R” Us Canada spokesperson and several lawyers representing the firm did not respond to a request for comment about the new filings.

The retailer has been owned by Putman Investments since 2021, when the Ancaster, Ont.-based company bought Toys “R” Us from Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd.

Fairfax paid $300 million to rescue the company and Babies “R” Us Canada in 2018, when it filed for creditor protection after the separately-run American arm of Toys “R” Us sought bankruptcy protection.

Putman also owns retailers HMV, Sunrise Records, Ricki’s, Cleo and Northern Reflections and previously operated a chain of home goods stores called Rooms + Spaces and many T. Kettle tea shops. Rooms + Spaces and T. Kettle have closed all their stories.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 27, 2026.