Oshawa Centre is leaning into experiential retail this holiday season with the launch of its new Holiday Snow Magic experience, a hands-on winter activation designed to engage families while supporting a major local healthcare initiative. Running from early December, the immersive attraction transforms part of the super-regional shopping centre into a festive winter wonderland, complete with twinkling lights, snowy scenes, and interactive programming aimed primarily at children and families.
Holiday Snow Magic is structured as a ticketed experience, with proceeds directed to the Lakeridge Health Foundation. Funds raised through the activation are earmarked for the purchase of a new CT scanner, aligning holiday entertainment with a tangible community benefit.
According to Oshawa Centre, the program builds on a long-standing relationship with the foundation that has already generated more than $600,000 through various initiatives over the years, reinforcing the mall’s role as a community anchor within Durham Region.
Recreating the Magic of the Holidays for a New Generation
Chris Keillor, General Manager at Oshawa Centre, said the idea for Holiday Snow Magic was rooted in nostalgia and the desire to recreate the wonder of the holiday season from a child’s perspective.
“Holiday Snow Magic was inspired by our desire to recreate the sense of magic you feel as a child during the holiday season,” Keillor told Retail Insider. “We wanted kids to actively participate, create meaningful memories, and take home a keepsake that captures a magical moment in time.”
At the heart of the experience is a snow globe-making workshop, which Keillor described as the emotional centerpiece of the activation. Children are guided through the process of creating their own snow globe, designed to serve as a lasting reminder of the visit long after the holiday season ends.
“A snow globe felt like the perfect symbol of that experience, something they can make themselves and keep forever as a reminder of the season,” he said.
A First-of-Its-Kind Activation for a Canadian Shopping Centre
While holiday programming is a familiar feature at major shopping centres, Keillor emphasized that Holiday Snow Magic represents a significant departure from past offerings at Oshawa Centre. Unlike traditional Santa visits or passive décor installations, this activation is designed to be immersive from the moment guests enter.
“Holiday Snow Magic is fully immersive from the moment families walk in, creating the feeling of being magically transported into a winter wonderland,” Keillor said. “It is also a first-of-its-kind activation, as Oshawa Centre is the first shopping centre to introduce a snow globe-making workshop.”
That emphasis on originality is intentional. With consumers increasingly selective about how and where they spend time during the busy holiday period, experiential differentiation has become a critical tool for large-format malls seeking to remain relevant beyond pure retail transactions.
By positioning the Oshawa Centre Holiday Snow Magic experience as something families cannot replicate elsewhere, the centre is aiming to elevate its holiday offering from an errand-driven visit to a destination outing.
Designed for Interaction and Creativity
The experience is structured around small-group sessions to ensure that children receive personal attention throughout the workshop. In addition to creating snow globes, participants are invited to personalize holiday stockings and engage with themed décor elements that encourage exploration and creativity.
“Children are fully engaged through hands-on activities like creating their own snow globe and personalizing their own stocking, allowing for creativity and self-expression,” Keillor explained. “The immersive setting makes children feel like they are part of a magical holiday world.”
This approach reflects a broader shift in mall programming, where engagement and dwell time are increasingly driven by experiential layers rather than transactional ones. By encouraging families to spend more time on site, the activation supports the charitable objective as well as the centre’s broader leasing and traffic goals during the crucial holiday shopping window.
Linking Holiday Joy With Community Impact
Tying Holiday Snow Magic directly to fundraising for Lakeridge Health Foundation was a deliberate decision, according to Keillor, and one that reflects Oshawa Centre’s positioning as a community-focused asset rather than simply a retail venue.
“Supporting the local community is a core priority for Oshawa Centre, and partnering with Lakeridge Health Foundation allows the experience to extend beyond entertainment,” he said. “It gives families the opportunity to enjoy a memorable holiday activity while supporting a meaningful local cause.”
The funds raised through ticket sales are directed toward the acquisition of a new CT scanner, an investment that will have long-term benefits for healthcare delivery across Durham Region. For families participating in the activation, the charitable component adds an additional layer of meaning to the experience.
Building on a Longstanding Partnership
Holiday Snow Magic also represents an evolution in how Oshawa Centre engages with its charitable partners. Rather than relying solely on donation drives or one-off fundraising campaigns, the centre is increasingly integrating philanthropy into its experiential programming.
“Holiday Snow Magic builds on our long-standing partnership with Lakeridge Health Foundation by evolving how we engage the community in giving back,” Keillor said. “As Oshawa Centre continues to grow, we are focused on creating more meaningful, experience-driven programming that delights our guests and also supports our community partners in impactful ways.”
That strategy mirrors a broader trend among leading Canadian shopping centres, where community engagement is being woven more deeply into placemaking and brand identity, particularly as centres navigate redevelopment, intensification, and changing consumer expectations.
Early Community Response and Fundraising Momentum
Since launching in early December, the response from the community has been strong. According to Oshawa Centre, early sessions have sold well, and feedback from families has been overwhelmingly positive.
“The response has been overwhelmingly positive, with incredible feedback from parents and families,” Keillor said. “The initial sessions have been very well received, and we’ve raised $20,000 so far through ticket sales, with momentum continuing to grow through social media.”
From a retail strategy perspective, immersive holiday activations play a key role in driving foot traffic during a highly competitive period. Keillor noted that experiences like Holiday Snow Magic help reposition a mall visit as a destination event rather than a transactional stop.
“Experiences like Holiday Snow Magic give families a reason to visit beyond shopping, transforming a mall visit into a destination outing,” he said. “Immersive activations encourage longer dwell time and help create emotional connections that strengthen guest loyalty.”
For a super-regional centre of Oshawa Centre’s scale, these emotional connections are increasingly important. With over one million square feet of gross leasable area and a broad tenant mix, the centre relies on consistent traffic and engagement to support both national brands and local services.
A Centre in Transition and Renewal
Holiday Snow Magic arrives at a time of significant change for Oshawa Centre. Owned by Primaris REIT, the property is undergoing a period of transformation tied to the redevelopment of the former Sears space and broader intensification plans.
Oshawa Centre has long been the dominant shopping destination in Durham Region, serving as a fashion, service, and entertainment hub since opening in 1956. Recent years have seen ongoing modernization efforts, and future plans include the demolition of approximately 303,000 square feet of former Sears space to make way for new retail outparcel development.
