Celebrating a new era: Introducing Convenience Week: August 25-29, 2025
It may have a new name and a refreshed focus, but making communities stronger remains at the heart of the Canadian convenience industry’s annual celebration.
After 10 years, hundreds of in-store visits by decision makers across Canada and more than $1 million for Make-A-Wish Canada, the rebrand to Convenience Week offers more flexibility to celebrate our impact on communities.
The 2025 edition, running from August 25-29, features more ways to promote our industry’s community impact on social media.
Retailers, customers and community leaders can promote their support of the convenience industry with the click of a mouse through a self-serve website – www.convenienceweek.ca -- that features key messaging and ready-made social posts.
Notably, this will be the last year the event raises funds specifically for Make-A-Wish Canada. While raising money for charity was always an important component of the week, we found that many of our retail members have their own charities that they wish to support. We felt it was time to shift the focus back to the industry, its workers and our importance to keeping communities vibrant.
At its core, Convenience Week highlights how convenience stores serve as community hubs.
With more than 21,800 stores employing nearly 188,000 people across Canada, these outlets are more than just places to grab essentials—they're lifelines for neighbourhoods, providing quick access to food, fuel, and services, especially in remote or underserved areas.
C-store employees often go above and beyond, offering a friendly face during late-night shifts or emergencies. From in-store appreciations to social media shoutouts using hashtags like #ConvenienceWeek and #MakingCommunitiesStronger, the week aims to raise awareness while fostering a sense of pride and unity.
Fundraising for Make-A-Wish Canada remains a cornerstone for this final year of the partnership. In collaboration with the charity, the Convenience Industry Council of Canada is rallying stores to collect donations that directly support wish-granting.
An exciting update for 2025: Interac will match donations up to $50,000, doubling the impact of contributions. This incentive builds on past successes, where campaigns have funded wishes like memorable and unique trips, celebrity meet-and-greets, or home makeovers tailored to a child's needs. For instance, one memorable wish involved a young girl named Arianna, who, after battling a severe illness, got to swim with dolphins at a resort—an experience that reignited her spirit and brought her family closer together. Stories like this underscore the transformative power of the wishes granted by Make-A-Wish Canada, offering hope when it's needed most.
This week is also a great opportunity to remind politicians about the importance of maintaining a vibrant convenience industry and how their policies impact our ability to stay open and serve Canadians. While our advocacy work on issues like beverage alcohol expansion, credit card fees, contraband and nicotine pouches happens year round, this is a great opportunity to celebrate our workers.
In Ontario, where the week is designated by law as Convenience Store Week, we continue to host politicians in members stores across the province. In Atlantic Canada, we are also hosting many politicians, including premiers. But in Quebec and Western Canada, we have taken a different approach. We are raising the profile of our industry with politicians in different ways through events at other times during the year either at legislatures or participating in golf tournaments with ministers and premiers.
Convenience matters – to Canadians and the communities they work and live. I started off Convenience Week after a long weekend visit to a beautiful part of our country, les îles de la Madeleine. It’s hard to get to, and remote, but the sense of community is incredible. This sign at a local Crevier station “Point-D’Aide, Votre Depanneur” captures the essence of who we are, there to help. Indeed, the origin of the word dépanneur comes from dépanner which means to get you out of a jam.
Please join us in celebrating our industry, visit www.convenienceweek.ca and help us spread the word through your social channels, with your stories about how your local store is there for you, sometimes getting you out of a jam.
