Canadian Tire

Having lived in Ontario and Nova Scotia, we have become accustomed to being able to take our dog into Canadian Tire stores. I fact, Canadian Tire in Ontario was one of the first stores to allow dogs (pets) into their stores.

So, we were very surprised when we saw the large NO PETS ALLOWED sign on the front door. This is not what we have come to expect from Canadian Tire.

It has been very convenient to shop at Canadian Tire without having to leave our dog in the vehicle or at home. We do not understand why Canadian Tire stores in other provinces allow pets and the store in Courtenay does not. Perhaps it is a Provincial policy with BC Canadian Tire stores.

In the past, we have used Canadian Tire for vehicle servicing, buying tools, hardware, household items and much more. The inconsistency with pet policies in other provinces will impact the amount of business we do at this store.

Had to come from Victoria to pick up a large quantity of sleeping bags for a non for profit here in Victoria because they were the only CT with stock. When I visited the store I had to grab some personal items and I found the store to be very clean and well organized. I went to the customer service desk to let them know I was picking up and the agent was very helpful. Theresa the sports manager had everything ready to go and was a huge help. I then drove to the back of the store and Danica helped me load up my truck. Danica was very personable and an absolute joy to be around. All this to say that I am very impressed with the level of service, the store, and the people. Way to go!

Updated review: My car was making some minor grinding noises so I decided to have it checked out before performance issues were noticed. I had spoken to Ian at the service desk a few times in the past and he was always easy to communicate with, understanding, and knowledgeable. Originally when I had the car looked at the cost to fix it would be just over $1,600. I wasn't ready to have that kind of financial loss and needed time to save. Ian, again, was understanding and gave me a lot of incite to the issues, along with Amanda (who had worked on my car) ; mostly the calipers were ceasing. A couple weeks later I decided to schedule to repair and cry myself to sleep for the next 2 months while I financially recovered from the unexpected cost. After bringing my car in for the repair Ian informed me that they were able to perform a workaround and replace just the bolts and not the calipers. This saved me about $700, which was a huge relief. I feel like most places, especially the Chevrolet dealership, would just let the cost go to the customer and not bother with more sensible fixes, so I really appreciate the work the people at this Canadian Tire do.

I also want to address the no dog policy that a few others have pointed out in reviews. It's super inconvenient and doesn't make sense for a Canadian Tire to enforce; there isn't open food sold in the store and the mall access is cut off. I found out the hard way when I needed to get a simple tool for my car battery. The front door person seemed way too enthusiastic to deny my puppy access - possibly a power-trip moment for her. Luckily another associate offered to help retrieve the tool for me and even helped supervise my puppy when I had to go in to have my battery checked. I regret not remembering her name, but I hope they are given credit for their good nature and work ethic.

Original review:
Peter and the guys at the service desk were great. They were understanding, helpful, and friendly. The customer service at the Chevrolet dealership in the area is terrible by comparison, and I will be bringing my vehicle to Canadian Tire from now on.

I understand that Canadian Tire is not desirous of MONEY FROM BLACK PEOPLE, avoid at all cost, the colour of someone's skin doesn't change the value of money. This is a never shop at company.

This is not the same Courtenay Canadian Tire that was here 25 years ago sadly, however, I encourage both growth and change. The car part I was going for was waiting for me on the counter when I arrived. All I had to do was call and inquire. The member of the automotive parts department that took my call was exceptionally helpful. They looked up prices for a few different parts for two different vehicles and made me aware of all of my options. Once I decided, my parts were set aside and waiting for me. I'm disappointed that I can't recall the young man's name because he is deserving of recognition for a job well done.

The only Canadian Tire I've ever been to that denies dogs at the door. With nowhere shady to tie dogs up to run in quick shoppers, especially travellers with no option to leave pets at home, are left with very few choices when it's hot out. Being from out of town myself just in need of camping supplies to replace some that stopped working on our trip, I was quite displeased with having no options for my dog when it's 25°c! No where to tie him outside and can't leave him in the car in the heat. Awful location. Will be hitting the Duncan store tomorrow instead!

I phoned this store to ask about one of the bookshelves they offered. I wanted to know the size and other information. Matthew, the young man who answered the phone was very helpful, went into the back to measure the container for me and was patient will all my questions. He made sure I had all the information I needed before we ended the call. I really appreciated his calm polite manner. The next day when I went to pick up the bookshelf package I was told he was a new employee, he will be a good addition to the staff there.

No dogs allowed? !? ! This is the only location that doesn’t allow dogs. The greeter seemed overjoyed to educate me on this policy so no point arguing with that. Sad to see they operate like this and frustrating when I can’t leave my dog in the car in 30C+ weather temperatures.

We’ve shopped here a lot and have had great experiences, but today was extra great. Special shout out to Holly from customer service. She was kind, patient and creative in helping me with a difficult return/exchange.

Staff is usually pretty nice at most Canadian Tires, but especially here. No self checkouts, so you gotta interact with their kindness.

We like supporting a Canadian company when we can, especially as they employ many of the young people in our community. It's pretty much our default stop for many things in our household, including gardening tools & plants, camping gear, kitchen appliances, and even sporting gear.

Would not allow my service dog into the store. Was utterly humiliated infront of a crowd of people when the employee yelled at me that I need to leave immediately and it's the store policy that no animals are allowed, no exceptions.

They actually have some reasonable sales on toys and Christmas lights. Easy enough to find what I needed, but hard to pass up on good deals. Went in to grab a garbage can and came out with that and six toys for presents. Happy to have stopped in and to cross off some of my Christmas shopping.

September 20th (2022)
I purchased new windshield wiper blades
The store associate Jesse how helped me, mentioned to me that they will install them for No Charge!

Its a Canadian Tire, so they have everything a Canadian Tire has, everything but nothing actually made in Canada.

Regular ol' Canadian Tire. Large by Valley standards, always find something I need when I go in. Good selection and staff know where stuff is, also knowledgeable and helpful. Folks in Automotive and Parts know their stuff really well. Definitely moves faster without the covid regulations but they were doing a great job then too.

An inconvenient store. Cannot enter or exit through the back of the store or from the mall, not enough staff to help within a time frame (although if you can find one they are helpful if not that knowledgeable, except in automotive where they are terrible in every aspect), vast floor areas to cover and still not be able to find the item you are looking for so 90% of visits are unsuccessful. Thank goodness for Amazon.

Love Canadian Tire! They have amazing deals and you have to get there quick when the sales are on, before they sell out. Just really good quality products, they're great about returns, and they have an amazing selection of plants which I love. The staff are always super friendly and helpful, and you can tell the management treats their staff well, which means a lot in my opinion. I always take my car there to get fixed and they don't trick you into paying more than you should, like some places might. They're super friendly and empathetic, which helps a lot if you have sudden car troubles and are feeling overwhelmed about it.

Large selection of everything, they usually have all the sales items in stock. I have never had to get a raincheck for any sale item I have gone in looking for.

I love Canadiian tire. They are a respectable Canadian company with good core values. I've grown up with them being a part of my life. Never had a bad experience at one. I live close to this location, I go here frequently, it'd usually busy and staff are great 99% of the time!

WE do alot of our shopping here, great staff, friendly, helpful, and usually professional. Sadly they dont sell adhesive vinyl or we would probably be in here on the daily.

Car service is exceptional. Visited this location on three occasions and had my town and country and my roadster fixed. Ian and others are very helpful. Thank you

I always feel really uncomfortable going into this store. The security guards are aweful and unprofessional. They have kicked out my partner along with other members of the community for not wearing a face mask despite having medical exemptions. This is discrimination at its finest. Do you also not allow people with other medical/health issues into your store due to 'public safety'?

Checked store for a desired item, sold out. Called next day to see if they restocked and staff said No rudely and hung up! Husband checked the app and told me they lied. Went to store and sure enough there was 80 of the item I was requesting.

I had a great experience, but I felt a little bad for a Anthony. He was such a great cashier, he was so nice, and very helpful and very fast at his job. I asked him why he wasn’t on customer service. He told me he was supposed to be trained on it a few months ago. Canadian tire I recommend you get that young boy trained on Customer Service. You Rock Anthony!

My wife bought a car battery last week at this location, while buying the battery she was told to bring in our old one for a free recycling by the gentleman that was helping her. Today we brought the old battery in to the automotive department and boy what a horrible experience. Todd from automotive was extremely rude to my wife by speaking over her and stating " if you don't have the invoice your not getting your $20! " not allowing her to get a word in at all. Finally when she was able to speak she let him know she doesn't want the $20.00 but just wants to recycle the battery as she was told to do a week prior he completely shut her down and made her walk through the store again with an extremely heavy battery with tears in her eyes. I have dealt with Todd before as well and this guy has no customer service skills, arrogant, and down right rude. Every other staff I have dealt with are super friendly, helpful, and know how to speak properly, and I have always been happy. Thanks for nothing Todd.

Now banning people unless they can wear a mask
Will probably never shop here again
Too bad, was one of my favorite stores

Our Canadian tire has knowledgeable and helpful staff and a bright, clean and we'll stocked store.

This store is pretty amazing. Dan (at least I think that’s his name) helped me so much. Then when I went to go through checkout it was just one boy on and two girls talking in the lane while there were a lot of people in line. Anthony was working his hardest getting out customers fast.

Went in for a skate sharpening and even let the guy know that they were brand new skates, figured it would be a good sharpening considering I wasn’t pointed anywhere else. Stepped on the ice and slipped around everywhere, not a great start to trying to get back into hockey, I’d really appreciate some type of compensation considering I spent money to play hockey

I just had the absolute worst experience at this store. I wanted to buy a cleaning Mitt but there 2 spots with a similar product. The spot that had 1 in it was clearance so i took it. At the till I asked the associate to tell me the price to make sure I got the clearance one. She said it wasn't but called and they said it was the wrong one so I took it back to get the correct one. I had an associate scan both. I got the clearance one and went to put the other one back and fix the boxes to be in the correct spot. All of a sudden a male employee who I know as he used to work with me stormed up and told me to stop. He was incredibly rude. I went and asked to speak to a manager. The manager was listening to me when the associate stormed up behind me and tried to interrupt. When I stopped talking he said he was sorry he was rude but and tried to justify his rudeness. That is not an apology. I stated that and told him he knew me as an hone st person from my job as loss Prevention. He said he didn't know me. The whole time he made me feel like a liar and thief. I was definitely upset and told him he did know me and he was lying. The female manager did apologize but the whole experience was very upsetting as I have been dealing with health issues that this will directly affect. Having to ask to be treated with respect in a store I shop at rather than the one I work at and get a discount on is disgusting. I love Canadian tire and always have good service and interactions with staff but I might just spend my money elsewhere if I have to worry about being treated so poorly.

I picked up one item. Went thru a cashier " in training" her name is Maya. She did very well. Service with a smile & quick too. Will be back.

What a fabulous Canadian Tire Store! I loved the variety inside, it was clean and well stocked. The giant bear near the entrance and the giant elf in the garden centre was a neat, creative touch. I liked the fact that you had the coffee pods near the coffee machines. Lots of plants available both inside and out. Lots of bikes and fitness gear. A good selection of wood stoves and pellets. Love the creative lingo on the Frank products! Who was Frank by the way? A pleasure to shop there.

Took my JDM Subaru here for an inspection in Oct 2021 and found out my car needed a bit of work to be insured in BC. The staff (Ron in particular) were very good about explaining to me what needed to be done (and why!).

After a few weeks spent acquiring all the parts I needed from a scrap dealer I brought my car back and they were able to do all the work needed to get the car to pass the inspection. All credit to the Canadian Tire Courtenay team. They were helpful, knowledgeable and patient with me as I had never done this before. Wil be bringing my JDM Subaru back to them for any future service needs as they clearly know what they're doing.

Terrible store. I asked 2 separate workers for help and their answer was "That's not my department". Shame

What a surprise! Just moved from the mainland to here. Let me tell you this location is 10 times better in every way, cleanliness, service, selection, organization, heck even the prices seemed better. I was blown away at how nice it was in there. Like a candy store. My faith has been fully restored in Canadian Tire once again. Dropped some heavy bird in there today, no questions asked. I woulda kept going but the cart got too heavy. I'll be back for the rest soon, that's a guarantee. Do yourself a favour and go to a Canadian tire in Surrey or Vancouver and then come here and you'll know what i'm talking about, night and day.

I am newly disabled and found things difficult. Very young staff did their best but not all disabilities are visible

I think this is the only Canadian Tire that does not allow you to bring in your dog. This is really the only point of differentiation that would make me choose to shop here over any other box store. As a single pet owner, it can be challenging to go out with your pet, especially on a hot day. Knowing there is a place to go in if we need something while out and about has always been such a selling feature of Canadian tire stores. Very disappointed to be turned away today.

Worst “mechanics” around I wish I could give them ZERO stars! I will be taking my complaint to head office. My daughters suv was brought in they were told we thought it was the strut. They then tell us it’s the ball joint and the struts are fine, they replace that and say there is still something wrong and they’ll call us this morning to check it over for free. They DON’T call us we call them and now they said the STRUTS needs to be replaced! This is after we paid over $500 yesterday! I’ve heard bad things about them before and wish I’d listened. You’re better off fixing your car yourself! You can see the paper where they checked off that the struts are fine!

Canadian Tire has a lot of things to offer for every household needs as well as paints, and so forth. I love to go around the store and browse almost every sections except the tire section which I do go to when I need too.

Love
Prophet Ramona

Love

Very disappointing to get home with a new Fiskar reel mower after taking 4 ferries to pick it up, only to find it used and reboxed. Not a great response from Can tire.

They had no wash brushes and was hard to get any direction. Leaving my bag at the front desk I am not comfortable with at all.

Canadian Tire. What can I say. An institution of Canadian hardware and DIY dreams. Add to that housewares and a garden center and they almost have it all.

Did my brakes recently and I was very happy with the service and price.
Went back after 100kms to have lug nuts checked and they replaced a burnt out running light bulb, no charge.

Found some solid motorcycle gloves on clearance, was pretty stoked on the price.

But that's Canadian tire, crazy sales that seem to have no rhyme or reason but who doesn't like when you go in for something and it's half the price you anticipated paying

Really expensive place to shop. When you pay attention to certain items you'd like and when the thing goes on sale you get to see just how much extra they really charge, cause even on sale they make a decent amount. Also a stand up cabinet fell on my 4 tear old not too long ago. Safety obviously not a priority, as its still not secured.

Very friendly hard working staff and good customer service and a very clean store and their manager Keith looks like Jay Leno.

What can you say? Canadian Tire is the go to store for everything, except groceries and lumber. Good parking and store hours.

Lacks so many things, normally have to travel to Courtenay to actually find what I'm looking for

Stores so outdated

I went in to buy a wine pump and some co2 cartridges (and who knows what else) and was approached by an employee. I was actually really surprised and impressed that someone was coming to help! She looked so enthusiastic when she approached.

But. She wasn't coming to help.to my suprise she was coming to take my backpack from me so that it could be stored behind the counter so I wouldn't steal anything, LOL.

Wow, just the contrast between how happy I was to get some help and the realization that I was being treated like the type of person who steals from Canadian Tire. Ouch! Lol

I will NEVER return to Canadian Tire again. #facts

Love this place for my car repairs. Ian or Dan are both the people to speak to for any of your vehicle servicing needs!

I got an out of province vehicle inspection at this location. I booked it over te phone, I was never quoted a cost, I didnt care because I needed to have it done. I was told it would take 1 hour. That day, 28 minutes into the service I got a call I needed a piece replaced and it would cost be an other $85.00. I said sure, because I needed to get BC that day and they had the time. I was told it would be an other 40 minutes or so. 30 minutes later I got a call, all done. Awesome fast service.so I thought. I went to pay my bill and it was almost $500.00 showing on the debit machine, I was in shock and just continued the payment. I wasn't shown my bill before paying, I thought because of covid they didnt want to many people touching papers. My mistake. Got to my car and looked at my bill. I was charged for 2.5 hours of service and I was there for just an hour. On top of that, a bunch of other service charges I was never told about. I was confused and upset so later that day I went back to speak to a manager. No one was in the automotive department, another manager told me she would leave a msg for the automotive manager and that he would get back to me the next morning. I never got a call. I waited all day and by 4pm I figured I wasnt getting a call so I drove back over to Canadian tire. When I pulled into the parking lot I got a call from Dan, the automotive manager. Apparently, Dan was so busy that day he couldnt have called me and that he was leaving for the day and would call me tomorrow if he could. I heard the msg and quickly ran inside to catch him before leaving.

I found Dan and I experienced the worst customer service I've ever witnessed. I explained to him how I was confused about the charges and how I was never told about these extra hourly charges, shop charges etc. Dan told me "I dont believe you. My men would never not quote you those extra charges" I tried to explain I was only ever told about the part piece costing an extra $85.00 which I was all good to pay for but I wasnt told about any other charges. I told him I wasnt even quoted for the orginal inspection over the phone! "I don't believe you" "Im not arguing with you". So disappointing and I was belittled in front of other customers. He asked me why I didnt question it when I paid. I told him I didnt get my papers till after I paid and that i figured it was because of covid. Dan told me that was my fault and that maybe I should have looked before I paid. And that it was a lesson to be learned. Dan tried to tell me they charge that much an hour because thats how much hi employees make an hour. I know people who have worked there and no, thats not even close to true. I was straight up lied to by their management and tried to be taken advantage of by their staff.

Needless to say, I won't be going back.

Can be hard to find someone to help you locate something you need. All the staff seem to be at the front running the tills ;)

If you need things, and you need them cheap, this is your place. If you can't find the things here, go next door to Home Depot.

Customer service is almost non existent in the tire section. Good thing you can check stock and order online.

New store has a decent parking and roomy enough for convenient shopping. Regular discounts are making this store a good place to visit.

Great crew working here. The supervisor or team lead for the outdoor/firearms section is very polite. The customer service line moves rather quickly too! I was impressed at least 3 or 4 times now. I'm glad they're in town, and I'm happy I can support their business!

I like this Canadian tire location. Is pretty big and has a lot of stuff. They are also doing a good job with COVID measures. Auto shop changed my tires quickly and the service personnel are professional and knowledgeable. General employs have been awesome as well as if they were unable to help me they found someone else who could. Would recommend shopping here

The workers are always friendly here but there's far and few in between when you're looking for something and trying to find someone you spend about 10 minutes just to get some help.

They have everything you need. Great deals and excellent payment plans for credit card holders. Also get Canadian Tire money with your purchases that can be saved and used on future purchases.
Friendly, helpful staff.

Always a pleasure to visit Canadian Tire. No matter where you are in Canada the layout is very similar so easy to navigate.

Really appreciate that I could return an air mattress, no problem. The staff was helpful and courteous. I'd suggest Canadian Tire not carry this particular item (outbound queen double high air mattress) as the reviews are terrible, but the return is what mattered to me. More generally, I've had a lot of great experiences shopping at this store.

My "go to place" for most hardware used around the home. Best part is the helpful staff and the great customer service. Warranties and returns are hassle free.

Something on sale, on display, but when i asked where can I get this item, the sales lady said here it is. I said that's not the one on sale. She was rude in telling me that's the one we have, not the one in the picture or the one that was on display. Very disappointing visit to say the least!

The guys in the shop went above and beyond helping me get my truck lifted. They took amazing care of it, kept me updated along the way and blew my expectations away. Hands down would go to these guys for anything automotive related. Thanks again from one very happy customer!

What's not to love, its Canadian Tire. Store Manager Keith, and the staff do a great job of keeping the shelves stocked and they have excellent customer service.