Canada's Beloved Discount Retailer Embraces Change

Why It Matters

Adopting Workday modernizes Giant Tiger’s back‑office, reducing costs and risk while giving franchisees faster, data‑driven decision tools, a competitive edge in Canada’s discount market.

Key Takeaways

• Giant Tiger migrated 263 stores to Workday for finance.
• Legacy inventory system lacked financial and people management capabilities.
• Transition risk mitigated by Deloitte partnership handling supplier data conversion.
• Digital procure-to-pay replaces paper, streamlining payments and reporting.
• Self‑service portal empowers franchise owners and corporate cost managers.

Summary

Giant Tiger, Canada’s long‑standing discount retailer, announced a full‑scale migration of its finance, HR and procurement functions to Workday. The move replaces a decades‑old inventory system that handled stock well but fell short on financial reporting, payroll and workforce management for its 9,000‑plus employees across 263 primarily franchised stores. The company highlighted the operational risks of such a cut‑over, noting that any disruption to supplier payments could jeopardize business continuity. Partnering with Deloitte from the outset, Giant Tiger executed a massive data conversion, enabling a seamless switch‑over that allowed daily sales processing, supplier payments and the first month‑end close to proceed without interruption. Kevin Little, associate vice‑president of finance, described the previous paper‑heavy procure‑to‑pay workflow—signatures, manual entry, filing, and decades‑long storage—as “over.” The new digital system not only eliminates that bureaucracy but also provides real‑time self‑service tools for franchise owners and corporate cost‑center managers, enhancing transparency and speed. The transformation positions Giant Tiger to scale efficiently, improve cash‑flow visibility, and empower its franchise network with modern tools, aligning the retailer with broader digital‑first trends in the discount sector.

Original Description

Discover how Giant Tiger partnered with Deloitte and Workday to modernize finance operations and support growth across its nationwide retail business. Giant Tiger shares how moving from manual, paper-based processes to a digital procure-to-pay system improved self-service, strengthened supplier readiness, and helped empower teams across the organization.