Walmart Canada has converted its longtime Squamish, B.C. store into a Supercentre, bringing a full fresh grocery assortment to a location that spent nearly two decades operating under municipal rules designed, in part, to protect existing grocery stores from competition.
The approximately 86,000-square-foot store at 39210 Discovery Way now sells fresh produce, meat, seafood, bakery and dairy products alongside Walmart’s general merchandise assortment. It also includes a full-service pharmacy and offers pickup and delivery, with approximately 170 associates employed at the location.
Walmart formally celebrated the transformation in September after opening the Supercentre in August. What appears at first to be another store renovation has an unusual history: when Walmart entered Squamish in 2006, local planning rules prevented it from becoming the full grocery competitor it is today.
Walmart Grocery Sales Were Restricted in Squamish
The restrictions date to a period when Squamish officials were concerned about what a large-format Walmart could mean for existing retailers.
Planning rules associated with the site prohibited the sale of several fresh-food categories, including fresh meat, poultry, fish and produce, while limiting the amount of space Walmart could devote to food.
During discussions about removing those restrictions in 2024, District of Squamish planner Philip Gibbins told council that they had originally been intended “to reduce competition for grocery stores downtown.”
That rationale looked considerably different two decades later. Squamish recorded a population of 24,232 in the 2021 Census, up from 19,893 in 2016, representing growth of 21.8 per cent in five years. Mayor Armand Hurford noted during the Walmart rezoning discussion that the community had roughly 14,000 residents when Walmart’s arrival was being debated about two decades earlier.
A policy developed for a much smaller Squamish had effectively prevented one of Canada’s largest retailers from competing fully in a grocery market serving a substantially larger population.
More Grocery Competition Becomes the Goal
By the time Walmart sought permission to convert the store into a Supercentre, the argument around competition had largely reversed.
During council discussions in November 2024, Hurford pointed to grocery affordability and price differences he had observed between Squamish and other communities. Coun. John French also supported the proposal, saying residents had told him they wanted more grocery competition.
There were still concerns about what Walmart’s entry into fresh grocery could mean for incumbent retailers. Coun. Lauren Greenlaw raised the potential impact on established grocery businesses, including a nearby family-operated retailer, while acknowledging the financial pressure facing residents and the potential benefits of additional competition.
The shift is notable. Walmart’s grocery business had originally been restricted because of concerns about competition. Nearly 20 years later, competition itself had become part of the case for allowing it.
That does not mean a Walmart Supercentre will necessarily reduce grocery prices across Squamish. Whether it does will depend partly on how competing retailers respond. But it introduces another major operator into fresh-food categories where Walmart had previously been prevented from competing.
Council gave the required zoning amendments their first three readings in November 2024, with six of seven councillors supporting the proposal. Final adoption followed in April 2025.
Coun. Chris Pettingill, who opposed the initial readings, raised concerns related to land-use intensity and the nearby FortisBC pipeline rather than Walmart’s expansion into fresh grocery.
Walmart Adds Grocery Without Adding Another Big Box
Walmart subsequently renovated the existing store instead of constructing a larger replacement. The new Supercentre carries produce, meat, seafood, bakery and dairy products alongside categories including fashion, home, electronics, health and wellness and seasonal merchandise. The location also operates a full-service Walmart Pharmacy and supports pickup and delivery.
“For years, our customers have been asking for a Supercentre, and we’re thrilled to officially welcome them into a store that offers even more of what they need, all under one roof,” said Donna Ricci, store manager of the Squamish Walmart.
At approximately 86,000 square feet, the Squamish store is considerably smaller than several new Supercentres Walmart Canada is developing. New locations announced for Lindsay and southwest London in Ontario and southwest Edmonton are around 140,000 square feet or larger.
In Squamish, Walmart has gained a full fresh-grocery business without acquiring another site or building another large-format store. The retailer is getting more out of an existing piece of real estate while adding categories that typically bring customers into stores more frequently than many general merchandise purchases.
Walmart Investing $6.5 Billion in Canadian Network
The conversion comes amid Walmart Canada’s broader push to expand and modernize its physical store network. Walmart announced in January 2025 that it would invest approximately $6.5 billion over five years in new stores, renovations and its Canadian supply chain. The program followed an earlier $3.5-billion investment under which the company said it modernized more than 180 Canadian stores.
New Supercentres have since been announced in several markets, including Fort McMurray, Hamilton, Ottawa, Bramalea, Lindsay, London and Edmonton, as well as on Tsuut’ina Nation near Calgary. Some of that growth is also taking Walmart into established shopping centres and large spaces previously occupied by department stores.
As of July 31, 2026, Walmart reported 401 Canadian stores, including 345 Supercentres and 56 conventional discount stores. Supercentres therefore account for more than 85 per cent of Walmart’s Canadian network.
Squamish illustrates another way Walmart can expand the format. The company did not need another 140,000-square-foot store to add a meaningful grocery operation; it needed permission to make fuller use of the store it already had.
Squamish Grocery Market Gets a New Competitor
For existing grocery operators in Squamish, the practical consequence is straightforward. Walmart can now compete for spending on produce, meat, seafood, dairy and bakery products that had been restricted at the location since it opened.
The Supercentre arrives in a community considerably larger than the one Walmart entered in 2006, and in a grocery market where affordability and competition were explicitly part of the municipal discussion that cleared the way for the conversion.
There is an irony in how the store finally got there. Squamish once limited Walmart’s grocery assortment because officials worried about the consequences of additional competition. Twenty years later, local concerns about grocery prices helped make additional competition part of the solution.
