In the last six months the RCMP has seized tens of million of dollars worth of counterfeit knockoff goods that are actually endangering the public health. Now Canadians are buying counterfeit makeup, perfume, shampoo and other health and beauty products that are counterfeit and endangering their health. "We've estimated that counterfeiters would quadruple their money on a load of counterfeit goods. And that's a conservative estimate," said RCMP Insp. Todd Gilmore. He said almost half of all knockoff goods seized are health and beauty products that people apply to their hair and skin or rub around their eyes, nose and mouth. "Counterfeiters have no regard for your health and safety. They just want to maximize their profits. Who knows how this was produced." Great video and article. (Source cbc.ca)

Older Canadians are dominating the labor-market gains in recent years with the 60+ group accounting for 1/3 of net job gains. Canada leads the G-8 in aging population and ranks 1st over the U.S. and the 2008 recession hit them even harder and has sent many of them back to work to supplement their incomes. We'll see older workforces in Canada populating a larger number of the retail jobs especially in the new stores. (Source vancoversun.com)

"The easy days are over," is the title of a new internal report from the Retail Council of Canada to its members. "Retailers foresee slow growth, no momentum. Canadian retailers, hurt by rising competition and a reluctance by consumers to spend, have a dire warning about their predicament: It's not going to get better any time soon." (source theglobeandmail.com)

Canada's #1 grocer LobLaw is launching a new rewards card next year to catch up to rivals and get ready for Target's red card. (Source theglobeandmail.com)

Target starts their year-long effort to win the Canadian shoppers with a pop-up store of Wu's collections in Toronto and that's just the beginning. John Morioka, Target Canada’s senior vice-president of merchandising says, "we definitely see the opportunity to do unique events to help educate Canadians as to what they can expect when we enter in 2013." The pop-ups are also a way to keep the Target brand in the minds of shoppers as existing Canadian retailers get ready for the fight of their lives. (Source canadianbusiness.com)

J Crew announces 3 new stores in Canada - Vancouver- Edmonton and Toronto. They were the ones who really took consumer heat for their prices when they entered last year. (Source financialpost.com)

Tory Burch, an American luxury retailer of women's apparel and accessories, plans to set up an outlet in Toronto, Canada With 54 stores in the U.S. and a strong wholesale division they're pushing north as well. Of interesting note is that they're currently doing an outside review of their loss prevention program and the root causes of shrinkage. (Source yahoo.com)

RCMP bust 8 in 600,000 cigarettes smuggling ring in Quebec The end of an investigation that started in the summer of 2011, the RCMP also seized $4,000 in cash, 80 counterfeit tablets to treat erectile dysfunction and seven vehicles used as part of the smuggling. These usually end up being sold out of mom and pop c-stores. (Source ctv.ca)