Peace Bridge Duty Free, one of Canada’s largest duty free land border retailers, has entered receivership, as it struggles to pay off millions of dollars in debt amidst plummeting traveler numbers, according to Canadian media reports.
In an order issued on April 17, 2025, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice ordered a takeover of Peace Bridge Duty Free Inc., according to The Canadian Press and other local media. Peace Bridge Duty Free has been operating at the crossing between Fort Erie, Ontario, and Buffalo, New York – the second busiest border crossing between the U.S. and Canada — for more than 30 years.
The Ontario Superior Court of Justice appointed a receiver for the Peace Bridge dutyfree shop who is empowered to take control of the assets, oversee liquidation and repay creditors.
The Buffalo and Fort Erie Public Bridge Authority claims the store owes it up to $17 million in unpaid rent going back years, while the Royal Bank of Canada says $3.3 million in debt is outstanding.
The Peace Bridge store operator asserts that it owes less, but says that the total is in the millions.
Peace Bridge will continuing to operate for now, but is still suffering from the sharp plunge in cross-border visits.
Canada’s land border duty free stores across the country have yet to fully recover from the losses incurred during COVID.
Statistics Canada says the number of Canadians returning by car from the U.S. fell nearly 32% last month compared with March 2024, the third consecutive month of year-over-year declines and the steepest plunge since the pandemic.
