Canadian brands push into resale as second-hand shopping rises

Major Canadian brands are pushing deeper into resale as shoppers stretch budgets with second-hand goods. Lululemon, Canada Goose and Ikea are among retailers building trade-in and recommerce programs so used products circulate under brand control rather than only on thrift racks and peer marketplaces.

Lululemon expanded its Like New program in Canada earlier this year with Denver-based Tersus Solutions, which opened a 25,000-square-foot Calgary plant — its first outside the U.S. — to clean, inspect, photograph and ship trade-ins. Customers swap eligible gently used pieces for electronic gift cards. Tersus says busy days ship more than 1,000 items and that On Running is set to send about 20,000 pairs of shoes through the same process in Canada.

Canada Goose’s Generations platform launched in the U.S. in January 2023, reached Canada that July and Japan in 2025. More than 17,000 products recirculated in the first year; in fiscal 2026 more than 19,000 moved through resale and repair. Ikea Canada sold 1.6 million products through As-Is last year and continues a buy-back program that quotes eligible furniture online for store gift cards.

McGill marketing professor Sid Mookerjee says brands already see their goods on secondary markets and want to own presentation, pricing image and the next customer at a discount. Affordability is pulling more Canadians toward thrift and consignment; that trade-down is now a retail lane — circular economy branding with a cost-of-living core.