Peace Bridge duty-free shop goes into receivership as cross-border travel plummets
The Canadian Press | Posted: April 28, 2025 8:08 PM | Last Updated: 5 hours ago
Royal Bank of Canada says $3.3M in debt is outstanding from the store
A judge is ordering the duty-free shop at Canada’s second-busiest border crossing into receivership as it struggles to pay off millions of dollars in debt and overdue rent.
In a ruling earlier this month, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice appointed a receiver for the Peace Bridge duty-free shop who is empowered to take control of the assets, oversee liquidation and repay creditors.
According to a claim filed by Royal Bank of Canada in the Ontario Court of Appeal in January, Peace Bridge Duty Free Inc. is the tenant of the duty-free shop on the Ontario side of the Peace Bridge at the border between Fort Erie, Ontario and Buffalo, New York. The landlord is the Buffalo and Fort Erie Public Bridge Authority. Peace Bridge has operated the retail duty-free store for more than three decades. In normal times, the store was open 24 hours a day, every day, and employed about 90 staff.
The current lease, dated July 28, 2016, ends in October 2031. It requires Peace Bridge to pay rent, which is comprised of base rent and percentage rent, and to pay any applicable sales taxes, property taxes, operating costs, and utilities. The minimum annual base rent is $4 million or $333,333 per month, the court document shows.
Landlord says tenant owes up to $17M
The Buffalo and Fort Erie Public Bridge Authority claims the store owes it up to $17 million in unpaid rent going back years, while Royal Bank of Canada says $3.3 million in debt is outstanding.
The Niagara Region retailer says it owes less, but the total still sits in the millions.
CBC News has reached out to the store for comment.
Continuing to operate for now, the store’s financial troubles come as duty-free shops across the country suffer from plunging sales amid a sharp downturn in cross-border visits by Canadians as well as Americans.
