Canadian Tire to sell Hudson’s Bay point blankets, support the Blanket Fund

TORONTO – Canadian Tire Corp. Ltd.’s efforts to bring back one of the most enduring signs of Canadiana will revive a charitable endeavour linked to the item.

The retailer announced Thursday that when it eventually begins selling Hudson’s Bay point blankets, it will donate net proceeds to Oshki Wupoowane, also known as the Blanket Fund.

The fund, which is stewarded by the Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund and supports Indigenous-led initiatives, has been guaranteed that it will receive at least $1 million a year from Canadian Tire.

The money Oshki Wupoowane receives will be used for multi-year grants that provide critical support to grassroots Indigenous organizations and reconciliation action grants to support one-time projects and events.

Sarah Midanik, president and CEO of the Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund, said the partnership is an “opportunity to change the narrative of the future to one of Indigenous strength and resilience.”

Oshki Wupoowane was started by Hudson’s Bay in 2022 as an acknowledgment of the blanket’s problematic past owing to its colonial ties and the retailer’s efforts to advance truth and reconciliation.

Point blankets, often in gold hues, were originally traded by settlers in the 1600s. The current Hudson’s Bay version with its distinct green, red, yellow and indigo colours originated around 1779, when the company was a fur trading powerhouse with extraordinary control over Canada’s land and Indigenous relations. 

When HBC started the fund, it received an initial investment from the retailer’s foundation and a commitment of 100 per cent of the net proceeds from the sale of its point blankets.

Midanik said the HBC Foundation stuck with its commitment even when the Bay filed for creditor protection in March. The retailer later shut down all of its stores, creating intense demand for striped products that are still being sold on online marketplaces for several times their original prices. 

The collapse of the company meant the motif was in need of a new home and the fund’s future was in question.

“It was tough to sort of live in limbo because you’re not sure what’s going to happen and there’s so much heart and good intention behind the program,” Midanik said.

While several brands vied for ownership of the stripes, it took months for Canadian Tire to be named the winner. It wasn’t until June that the company got permission to buy the motif and HBC’s intellectual property for $30 million.

Canadian Tire has said it will provide more details about its relaunch of the point blanket in the coming weeks. However, it confirmed the blankets will continue to be made in England by A.W. Hainsworth and the manufacturing process will remain unchanged.

CEO Greg Hicks said earlier this year Canadian Tire will release “some updates and fun initiatives” linked to the fallen department store starting in the fourth quarter of this year but will leave the launch of a more “meaningful product presence” for the back half of 2026.

The Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund, named after the late Tragically Hip frontman and an Anishinaabe boy who was found dead after fleeing a residential school in 1966, said Canadian Tire was an ideal victor because it already counted the retailer as a partner. 

Midanik set about shoring up Oshki Wupoowane, a fund named after the Ojibwe term for “a new blanket,” as soon as there were “whispers on the wind” that Canadian Tire would make striped products again.

“We sort of pulled every string within our bag of tricks, I guess, to make sure that we could have those conversations as early as possible,” Midanik said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 16, 2025.

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