Toys for the North

 

The Canadian Toy Association (CTA) has joyfully participated in the Toys for the North (T4N) charitable drive since 2010 in partnership with the RCMP and Thomson Terminals Limited.

Every Child Deserves a Holiday-Season Toy

2024 Toys for the North

This year is the 14th anniversary of the Toys for the North campaign. Once again, we are asking you – Canada’s Toy Manufacturing and Distribution Community - for your much-needed support to help bring the gift of a holiday season toy to Canada’s most northern communities.

The Toys for the North campaign is a 100% volunteer-run initiative supported by:

  • The Canadian Toy Association
  • Thomson Terminals
  • Royal Canadian Mounted Police
  • RCMP Veterans’ Association
  • Canadian Forces 8 Wing CFB Trenton
  • Thunder Bay RCMP partners with North Star Air Ltd. and Gardewine

Together, we donate, collect, fly, and ground transport toys to children and families in need located in Canada’s most northern and remote communities in parts of Labrador, Manitoba, Nunavut, and Ontario, who often cannot access or afford children’s toys.

This year, the CTA wants to make the Toys for the North charitable drive its biggest donation year ever and has set a goal to surpass last year’s $559,906.87 (35,183 pieces) worth of brand-new toys from our members.

There's still time ... here is what you can do:

The Canadian Toy Association is asking all companies involved in the sales, manufacturing, and distribution of toys to generously donate non-battery-powered toys (Canada’s northern communities often cannot afford or access batteries), with or without the toy’s accessories, by completing the donation form attached.

Please email your T4N Donation Form to info@canadiantoyassociation.ca by Friday, November 22, 2024.

Arrangements will be made to have all donations picked up by Thomson Terminals or shipped to Thomson Terminals by Friday, November 29, 2024.

Click here to download the T4N Donation Form

Thank you in advance for your generous contribution to Toys for the North and for helping make the holiday season memorable for children and families in Canada’s North!

 

2023 Toys for the North

Toys for the North aircraft

Nearly 4,000 children in Canada’s most remote communities, including Thunder Bay, Ontario; Iqaluit, Nunavut; Goose Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador; and now the Yukon and Northwest Territories, among other remote areas, will be receiving a gift this holiday season all because of your generous donations!

The Canadian toy industry companies donated $559,906.87 worth of toys during this year’s 13th annual Toys for the North initiative.

Thank you for your generous donations and for putting smiles on our precious children of the North, making a child’s holiday a merry one!

  • Bogoroch & Associates LLP
  • Borgfeldt (Canada) Ltd.
  • Cenovus (HuskyPRO)
  • Crayola Canada
  • Creative Education of Canada, Inc.
  • Do-Gree Fashions Ltd.
  • Funrise Canada
  • Happy Worker Inc.
  • Hasbro Canada
  • LEGO Canada Inc.
  • Mattel Canada
  • MGA Entertainment
  • Playmobil Canada
  • Ravensburger North America Inc.
  • Spin Master
  • TCG Toys

The collected toys were sorted and loaded onto transport trailer trucks, where they made their way to Canadian Forces Base Trenton. From there, your donations made their way to the North.

In November 2023, we celebrated the Canadian Toy Association's Hall of Fame and Rising Star winners! Thank you for participating in the Online Auction, which raised an additional $2,336.75 in monetary donations alone!

Thank you for providing the amazing Mentorship Gift Certificate, Gift Baskets, and Game Tickets for the Online Auction:

  • Anton Rabie, Spin Master
  • Hasbro Canada
  • LEGO Canada
  • Thomson Terminals

This brings the grand total to an amazing $562,243.62!

We certainly have a lot to celebrate this year, but none of this would be possible without our major Partners and Stakeholders:

  • The Canadian Toy Association
  • Thomson Terminals
  • Royal Canadian Mounted Police
  • RCMP Veterans’ Association
  • Canadian Forces 8 Wing CFB Trenton

and to get the collected toys to their final destination, the Thunder Bay RCMP partnered with:

  • Gardewine Group
  • North Star Air Limited

Thank you for your generosity!

A special mention of thanks goes to Thomson Terminals for packing and delivering the toy donations to Canadian Forces Base Trenton in time for Hercules to continue on its journey!

If you would like to learn more or support the Toys for the North campaign by donating new, packaged toys or monetary donations for special projects, please email Cessy Muenker at cmuenker@aemanagement.ca. It's never too early to plan for the Toys of the North 2024 campaign!


2023 Toys for the North in the News

‘Toys for the North’ Collects Record-Breaking Number of Donations from Canadian Toy Manufacturers

 

2022 Toys for the North

Nearly 4,000 children in Canada’s most remote communities, including Thunder Bay, Ontario; Iqaluit, Nunavut; and Goose Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador, among other remote areas, will be receiving a gift this holiday season all because of your generous donations!

The Canadian toy industry companies donated $467,312.68 worth of toys during this year’s 12th annual Toys for the North initiative.

The collected toys were sorted and loaded onto transport trailer trucks, where they made their way to Canadian Forces Base Trenton. From there, your donations made their way to the North.

In November 2022, we celebrated the Canadian Toy Association's Hall of Fame and Rising Star winners! Thank you for participating in the Online Auction, which raised an additional $4,410.36 in monetary donations alone, which goes toward keeping a child a little warmer this winter!

Thank you for providing the amazing Mentorship Gift Certificates and Gift Baskets for the Online Auction:

  • Monika Merz, Toys 'R' Us
  • Anton Rabie, Spin Master
  • Crayola Canada
  • Hasbro Canada
  • Mastermind Toys
  • Mattel Canada
  • ZURU Toys

This brings the grand total to an amazing $471,723.04!

We certainly have a lot to celebrate this year, but none of this would be possible without our major Partners and Stakeholders:

  • Canadian Toy Association
  • Thomson Terminals
  • Royal Canadian Mounted Police
  • RCMP Veterans’ Association
  • Canadian Forces 8 Wing CFB Trenton

and to get the collected toys to their final destination, the Thunder Bay RCMP partnered with:

  • Gardewine Group
  • North Star Air Limited

A special mention of thanks goes to Thomson Terminals, not only for packing and delivering the toy donations to Canadian Forces Base Trenton but for providing batteries to those toy donations that required them.

And a big shout out to Mastermind Toys for providing holiday wrapping paper for all the toys.

Here is a summary of the 2022 Toys for the North campaign.

2022 Toys for the North (.pdf)

To learn more about the history of the Toys for the North campaign, please click to view and share this link canadiantoyassociation.ca/toys-for-the-north with everyone in the toy industry!

 

2021 Toys for the North

Nearly 4,000 children in Canada’s most remote communities, including Thunder Bay, Ontario; Iqaluit, Nunavut; and Goose Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador, among other remote areas, will be receiving a gift this holiday season all because of your generous donations!

Despite 2021 being yet again a very tough year, the Canadian toy industry companies donated over $195,500 worth of toys during the 11th annual Toys for the North initiative.

The collected toys were sorted and wrapped, and loaded onto a transport trailer truck, where they made their way to Canadian Forces Base Trenton. From there, your donations made their way to the North.

Thank you for your generous donations:

  • Asmodee Canada/Lion Rampant Imports
  • Crayola Canada
  • FoxMind Canada Enterprises Ltd.
  • FUJIFILM Canada Inc.
  • Funrise Canada
  • Giant Tiger Stores Ltd.
  • Hasbro Canada
  • Kroeger Inc.
  • LEGO Canada Inc.
  • Mastermind Toys
  • Mattel Canada
  • MGA Entertainment
  • Nemcor Inc.
  • OK Let's Play
  • Playmobil Canada
  • Ravensburger North America Inc.
  • Razer
  • TCG Toys

Royal Canadian Air ForceA heartwarming message and video with you from the Royal Canadian Air Force - Journey to underneath the Christmas tree on the Toys for the North 2021 Campaign; view on RCAF's Facebook or Twitter page. Video production by Cpl Luke Barrie.

2021 Toys for the North Video

Buddy


 
View letter to Santa from Buddy
 

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