Case Study: Canadian Tire achieves Canada’s largest, highly automated distribution center and flexible sortation for growth with Honeywell Intelligrated

Canada’s Most Well-Known Retailer Gears Up for Growth with Country’s Largest DC

Canadian Tire, Canada’s largest general-merchandise retailer with hundreds of stores and millions of weekly customers, faced rapid growth and a changing store footprint that required handling everything from small conveyable items to large bulky goods. Compounded by a franchise “pull” model and seasonal peaks, the company needed a single distribution center that reduced touches and manual movement, stayed largely automated, handled bulk and piece-pick orders together, and could scale energy use up or down with demand.

Working with long‑time partner Intelligrated (and operator GENCO), Canadian Tire built a 1.5 million sq. ft. DC in Coteau‑du‑Lac featuring integrated WMS (DCCS) and Intelligrated BOSS controls, 21 km of conveyor, 12 four‑level pick modules, high‑speed merges and sliding‑shoe/pop‑up sorters, and variable‑speed operation with fire‑walled building sections. The result is a highly automated, flexible system that minimizes touches, handles both conveyable and bulky products in synchronized pick cycles, saves energy in low seasons, runs quietly, and delivers capacity for continued growth (about 120 cartons/min and over 55 million cu ft/year).

Canadian Tire

Dan Chan

Vice President