While the industry lost retailers like Danier, Aeropostale and Ben Moss, 2016 saw continued expansion and in particular the growth of the luxury and the off-price sectors in Canada—including Piaget, MCM, Saint Laurent, Saks Off Fifth, Nordstrom Rack, and Marshalls. Craig Patterson, Editor-in-Chief at Retail Insider estimates approximately 20+ new brands will enter the Canadian market in 2017, primarily from Europe and the US, with a continued emphasis on luxury brands opening free standing stores.

Retail Insider recently released a report in partnership with the Retail Council of Canada that highlights new entrants and it is a must read for retail operators. 
While international retailers face barriers to entry like finding retail space, brand recognition, language laws, regional differences, and logistics, they seem undeterred. 

E-commerce has a symbiotic relationship with brick-and-mortar retailing. Some retailers doing business in Canada have found that their physical stores benefit from having an online presence, particularly when shoppers order online and pick up purchases in-store. The physical store is ‘here to stay’ and in some instances, pure play e-commerce retailers like Frank & Oak and Indochino are opening bricks-and-mortar locations to capitalize on the benefits of face-to-face customer interaction.

Despite the growth of non-store sales, malls in Canada are strong – especially in major markets – where luxury brands like Saks, Nordstrom and Holt Renfrew are occupying huge anchor spaces; and Hudson’s Bay and Simons continue to hold their own. There has been a surprising amount of commercial development in 2016 with new malls built, redeveloped and currently under construction in 2017, despite lower foot traffic.