Former Hudson's Bay employees are about to get some financial help.
An Ontario court approved Wednesday the creation of a $250,000 hardship fund for former employees of the department stores as well as $5 million in collective payments to ex-HBC staff who were set to lose their long-term disability benefits.
The hardship fund is targeted at workers and retirees who have been having trouble paying expenses like rent, mortgages and utilities since HBC collapsed last year.
They'll each be able to apply for up to $9,600, and those with medical or other emergencies could be given up to $2,500 extra.
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That program will be separate from payments to be made to almost 160 former HBC staff or their beneficiaries whose long-term disability benefits are ending.
The fund and payments for workers getting long-term disability were the result of nine months of negotiations between the company, employee representatives and various other stakeholders, Karen Ensslen, a lawyer acting on behalf of the HBCs former staff, told Judge Jessica Kimmel in a virtual court hearing Wednesday.
The fund will address hardships being faced by HBC’s former staff, who have been unable to find alternative employment since the company crumbled and closed its stores, and have exhausted the financial support they are eligible for, she said.
The other payments will aid a group of almost 160 employees she framed as "extremely vulnerable" because the vast majority have permanent disabilities and no alternative source of income. The payment will likely be enough to help many until they are 65, she said.
After Kimmel ruled in favour of the hardship fund and payments being made, Ensslen said she was “very pleased” the court agreed with the plans she put forward.
“We look forward to assisting with the implementation of those programs,” she said in an email to The Canadian Press.
Hudson's Bay, once Canada’s oldest department store, had about 9,364 employees. They worked at 96 stores under the HBC and Saks banners, at four distribution centres, and at the company’s Toronto headquarters.
Almost all of them have lost their jobs since creditor protection proceedings began last March. Court documents say only eight employees remain.
Along with losing their jobs and thus, their salaries and benefits, the documents say many of the workers did not receive termination pay, severance amounts, parental leave top-ups and various other monetary perks.
Ex-staff receiving long-term disability benefits were told in June payments would stop, but Ensslen's firm twice got them extended, so recipients would have help until another solution could be found.
When HBC filed for creditor protection, 188 workers were receiving benefits, but since then, many have reached age 65 and are therefore ineligible for further support under the plan's terms.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 11, 2026.
