Starbucks Canada shuttered 37+ cafés in Sept. 26 wave as SEC flags ~250 NA closures

Starbucks closed at least 37 Canadian coffeehouses in a late-September wave that cut through downtown Toronto, Vancouver and dozens of smaller centres, part of a North American cull the company told U.S. regulators would reach about 250 stores.

Money.ca and 6ix Retail built working tallies from the Starbucks store locator and in-person checks: roughly 12 closures in Ontario, 10 in Quebec, 10 in British Columbia, four in Alberta and one in New Brunswick, with most last serving customers on Saturday, Sept. 26. Toronto alone lost four — including the Church-Wellesley Village café at 485 Church St., open since at least 1999; a Financial District shop at 350 Bay St. that was only about 15 months old; the King West location at Portland and Adelaide that opened in November 2025; and the midtown Yonge and Erskine store near its 20th anniversary. Downtown Vancouver’s 885 Dunsmuir St. was among the B.C. list. Starbucks has not published an official Canadian roster; 6ix Retail notes locator dark-outs can also mark temporary closures, so counts remain provisional. Toronto has now lost about 46 Starbucks locations since 2021.

In its SEC filing, Starbucks said the North American cuts equal roughly one per cent of its footprint and target stores that do not deliver the expected experience or financial results. Chief operating officer Mike Grams told staff some coffeehouses “continue to underperform” despite a redesign push. Canada corporate communications manager Mary Franssen told Money.ca each site is reviewed on customer experience and long-term performance, and that the moves are not a withdrawal from markets. Restructuring charges tied to the wave are pegged near US$300 million, much of it cash for lease exits and separation benefits. Affected partners are to be offered transfers where local staffing allows, or severance with a stated minimum of three weeks’ pay, six months of EAP access and extended health benefits for enrolled staff. Provincial employment standards still set floors for notice and severance; laid-off workers can apply for Employment Insurance without waiting for a Record of Employment. Starbucks Card balances remain usable at most remaining Canadian locations, according to company card terms.

Sources: Money.ca — Starbucks Canada store closures; 6ix Retail — September 2026 closures list; Toronto Sun; Global News — B.C. locations.