Costco Canada Makes Holiday Hours Permanent and Opens York Region’s First Business Centre: What Shoppers Need to Know for 2025

TORONTO – December 5, 2025 — Costco Canada is reshaping how Ontarians (and many Canadians) will shop this holiday season and beyond. The warehouse giant is:

Locking in longer weekend hours as a permanent change at warehouses across Canada, and
Opening York Region’s first Costco Business Centre in East Gwillimbury on Saturday, December 6, 2025.

Both moves land in the middle of a cautious but still busy 2025 holiday retail season, where consumers are laser‑focused on value, promotions and bulk savings. ^[1]

New permanent Costco hours in Canada: longer weekends are here to stay

Over the past few weeks, Costco Canada has quietly rolled out a major hours update on its social channels, declaring that its “holiday shopping hours are now permanent.” Posts shared on Facebook and Instagram spell out the new standard hours for warehouses across Canada: ^[2]

Monday to Friday: 9:00 a.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Saturday: 9:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Sunday: 9:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.

Previously, many Canadian locations closed at 6:00 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays, meaning members effectively gain an extra hour of shopping on both weekend days year‑round. ^[3]

Influencer and fan accounts that track Costco updates in Canada have echoed the change, noting that from January 2, 2026, warehouses will not revert to the older 6 p.m. weekend closing time the way they did after past holiday seasons. Instead, the extended 7 p.m. closings will become the baseline schedule. ^[4]

For members juggling work, kids’ activities and long commutes, that extra weekend hour is a meaningful shift. In many suburban markets, Costco’s main competitors already keep later weekend hours, so this move narrows the gap while reinforcing Costco’s value‑first reputation.

How the holiday schedule works in 2025

The permanent hours change is layered on top of a separate, seasonal holiday schedule that runs through New Year’s.

A November 18 article from Toronto-based Toronto Scoop details Costco Canada’s extended holiday hours for 2025: warehouses are opening earlier and closing at 7 p.m. during the peak rush, with special hours on key dates. ^[5]

According to that breakdown and Costco’s own holiday pages for Business Centres: ^[6]

Holiday warehouse hours (through January 1, 2026):
- Most warehouses: 7:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. Monday–Saturday, 9:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. Sunday
- Business Centres in Ontario also stay open until 7:00 p.m. on weekends during the peak season. ^[7]
Key holiday dates (Canada):
- Christmas Eve (Dec. 24): typically 7:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
- Christmas Day (Dec. 25):closed
- Boxing Day (Dec. 26): returns to 7 a.m. – 7 p.m. at Business Centres and extended holiday hours at warehouses
- New Year’s Eve (Dec. 31):7:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
- New Year’s Day (Jan. 1):closed ^[8]

From January 2 onward, holiday early openings wind down, but the later 7 p.m. weekend closings remain, aligning with Costco’s “now permanent” messaging.

This model mirrors broader North American retail trends: major chains stay closed on Christmas and New Year’s Day while pushing foot traffic into earlier dates, supported by richer promotions and online deals. U.S. coverage has noted similar closures at Costco and Sam’s Club for Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. ^[9]

How Costco’s hours compare to U.S. policy — and why that matters

South of the border, Costco has also tinkered with store hours — but in a very different way.

In the United States, Costco introduced early access for Executive members in June 2025. Axios reports that U.S. warehouses now open at 9 a.m. exclusively for Executive members, with doors opening later (often 10 a.m.) for everyone else, plus a newly extended Saturday closing time of 7 p.m. ^[10]

Lifestyle coverage in outlets such as Good Housekeeping and Southern Living notes that the policy has stirred debate: some shoppers love the quieter mornings, while other members and employees worry about fairness and staffing pressure. ^[11]

By contrast, Costco Canada’s change is simpler and more egalitarian:

There’s no separate early window by membership tier; every member gets the same hours.
The focus is on later weekend closings, not gated early‑morning access.
Business Centres keep their long‑standing 7 a.m. weekday and Saturday openings, appealing to small businesses and early‑bird shoppers alike. ^[12]

For Canadian shoppers, that means more flexibility without having to upgrade memberships just to avoid crowds.

York Region’s first Costco Business Centre opens in East Gwillimbury

The other big Costco story this weekend is north of Toronto: York Region is getting its first Costco Business Centre.

Where and when it opens

Costco’s new Business Centre is opening on Saturday, December 6, 2025, at: ^[13]

18182 Yonge Street, East Gwillimbury, ON
Near Yonge Street and Davis Drive, close to Newmarket, Bradford, Aurora and Uxbridge.

Narcity’s preview notes that the warehouse is roughly an hour’s drive from downtown Toronto and sits just north of the busy Newmarket retail corridor. ^[14]

Opening hours

For the East Gwillimbury Business Centre, Costco’s official “new warehouse” page and store listings confirm: ^[15]

Monday–Saturday: 7:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Sunday: 9:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.

Holiday exceptions match other Business Centres: closing at 5 p.m. on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, and fully closed on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. ^[16]

Who can shop there and what’s different from a regular Costco

Although the branding says “Business Centre,” any Costco member can shop there — Gold Star or Executive. ^[17]

Key differences from a standard warehouse include: ^[18]

Much deeper assortment for restaurants and small businesses
- Thousands of SKUs not carried at regular warehouses
- Commercial-size packs: 25 kg bags of flour, full cases of snacks and beverages, bulk meats, industrial cleaners
Less emphasis on “lifestyle” departments
- No tire centre or optical clinic
- No clothing, books, toys or big seasonal aisles
- No beloved hot‑dog‑and‑soda food court at some locations, including Mississauga, as local coverage has pointed out. ^[19]
Business-friendly layout and services
- Massive walk‑in cold room and expanded refrigerated section
- Strong focus on packaging, paper goods and janitorial supplies
- Next‑day and same‑day delivery options for many commercial customers ^[20]

For York Region residents, the East Gwillimbury Business Centre effectively fills the gap left when the old East Gwillimbury warehouse closed to be converted, after a modern full‑service Costco opened in Newmarket earlier this year. NewmarketToday coverage in August highlighted that transition, noting that the former Yonge Street site would eventually reopen in a new format — which is now being fulfilled. ^[21]

Opening deals: a hint of the target customer

Costco’s own “East Gwillimbury Opening Savings” flyer reads like a shopping list for restaurants, bakeries and caterers: 25‑kg cases of butter, bulk smoked turkey, full cases of chicken wings, 50‑lb bags of potatoes, large tubs of mascarpone and industrial‑size pantry staples are heavily discounted from December 6 to 14. ^[22]

That doesn’t mean regular households won’t benefit — but the mix makes it clear this site is designed first for business buyers, with family shoppers as a very welcome bonus.

A rapidly growing Business Centre network

East Gwillimbury’s opening is part of a bigger national push.

A Narcity deep‑dive in October outlined the Canadian Business Centre landscape: at that time there were seven Business Centres — Gloucester, Scarborough, Mississauga and St. Catharines in Ontario; Anjou and Saint‑Hubert in Quebec; and West Edmonton in Alberta — with more on the way. ^[23]

Recent announcements and openings fill in the picture:

Mississauga Business Centre (Argentia Road)
- Opened October 28, 2025 at 3115 Argentia Road. ^[24]
- Officially described in a GlobeNewswire release as Canada’s seventh Costco Business Centre, with grand opening promotions targeting restaurateurs and high‑volume buyers. ^[25]
New Westminster, B.C. (Metro Vancouver)
- Opened November 14, 2025 at 1085 Tanaka Court.
- Coverage from Vancouver food and retail media notes that this is British Columbia’s first, and Canada’s eighth, Costco Business Centre, adding 146,000 square feet of wholesale space to the region. ^[26]
Quebec City, QC & East Gwillimbury, ON
- Costco’s U.S. “New Locations Coming Soon” page lists Quebec City Business Center and East Gwillimbury, ON Business Center as December 2025 openings, signaling a quick jump from eight to ten Business Centres nationwide by year‑end. ^[27]

Taken together, this means:

Ontario will have five Business Centres once East Gwillimbury opens — Scarborough, St. Catharines, Gloucester (Ottawa), Mississauga and East Gwillimbury — strengthening coverage across the Greater Toronto Area and the Golden Horseshoe. ^[28]
Nationally, Costco is turning its Business Centre format from a niche experiment into a growing second network alongside its traditional warehouses, with Quebec City poised to become another anchor in French‑speaking Canada. ^[29]

Why Costco is doing this now: the 2025 holiday spending backdrop

Costco’s timing is not accidental. Retail forecasters paint a picture of modest growth, cautious households and hyper‑focused deal‑hunting for the 2025 holiday season:

Deloitte Canada expects holiday spending to rise around 3% year‑over‑year, but notes that nearly half of Canadians think the economy will worsen in the coming year. Most say they’re aggressively shopping for the best deals. ^[30]
A PwC Canada holiday outlook finds Canadians planning to spend an average of $1,675 on gifts, travel and entertainment — 10% less than last year but slightly more than 2023, suggesting people are trimming but not cancelling celebrations. ^[31]
A Retail Council of Canada–Leger survey, summarized by Retail Insider and Hardware Retailing, shows Canadians budgeting about $975 for gifts alone, broadly in line with 2024. Yet 85% plan to wait for sales, 80% compare prices online, and 78% expect to buy more discounted items than usual. ^[32]
NielsenIQ (NIQ) data highlights 2.1–3.1% food inflation across fast‑moving consumer goods through much of 2025, with 36% of Canadians feeling financially worse off, 49% stocking up when items are on sale and 42% saying they only have money for essentials. ^[33]
Wealth management coverage based on an Omnisend survey adds a very 2025 twist: 76% of Canadians say they plan to cut holiday spending, but 78% are using AI tools to hunt for deals, generate gift ideas and manage budgets. ^[34]

Retail analysts also report solid but promotion‑driven Black Friday results in Canada: sales volumes were healthy, but margin pressure was intense as retailers leaned on heavy discounting to unlock cautious wallets. ^[35]

In that environment, Costco’s playbook for December 2025 looks very on‑brand:

More hours, not more glitz — giving shoppers extra time to chase low‑price bulk deals instead of flashy in‑store experiences.
More wholesale‑style capacity near growing suburbs — via Business Centres in Mississauga, New Westminster and now East Gwillimbury.
Stronger value signal — permanent weekend extensions reinforce Costco’s promise of “everyday” savings, not just limited‑time holiday specials.

Local impact: what it means for shoppers and small businesses in York Region

For York Region specifically, the East Gwillimbury Business Centre is likely to reshape grocery and wholesale patterns in a few concrete ways:

Weekend pressure shifts north
With Newmarket’s full‑service warehouse already drawing crowds since its August opening, the Business Centre gives the region a second Costco node just minutes away. Expect:
- Weekend traffic to spread between the two sites
- Early‑morning weekday runs by restaurants, cafés and caterers
- Some spillover congestion on Yonge Street and Davis Drive, especially during opening week and pre‑holiday weekends ^[36]
Small businesses get more local support
Restaurants and cafés that previously relied on Scarborough or St. Catharines for Business Centre shopping now have a closer option, reducing time off the floor and fuel costs. Large‑format promotions on proteins, pantry staples and packaging in the opening flyer underline that focus. ^[37]
Households can “trade up” from regular warehouses
Narcity’s comparison pieces note that Business Centres often feel calmer and less chaotic than regular warehouses, with easier parking, leaner crowds and an almost “pro” shopping vibe — especially early in the day. ^[38]
For families in Newmarket, East Gwillimbury, Aurora and Bradford, that may make the Business Centre a new favourite for weekly stock‑ups, especially if they don’t need clothing, seasonal aisles or a food court on every trip.
Competition in the grocery corridor intensifies
The Newmarket–East Gwillimbury area already has a dense cluster of conventional grocers and big boxes. Adding both a full Costco and a Business Centre within a few kilometres likely puts additional pressure on prices and promotions throughout the corridor, to the benefit of deal‑seeking consumers.

The bottom line: more Costco, more hours, more ways to stretch a 2025 holiday budget

As of December 5, 2025, here’s the practical takeaway for Canadian Costco members:

Weekend hours at all Canadian warehouses are being extended permanently to 7 p.m., giving shoppers extra time on the busiest days.
Holiday 2025 brings even longer days at many locations (7 a.m. – 7 p.m.), plus predictable closures on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day and shorter hours on the eves. ^[39]
York Region’s first Costco Business Centre opens December 6 in East Gwillimbury, operating 7 a.m. – 7 p.m. on weekdays and Saturdays, 9 a.m. – 7 p.m. Sundays, and offering thousands of business‑oriented products in commercial pack sizes. ^[40]
Nationwide, Costco is rapidly expanding its Business Centre network, with recent openings in Mississauga and New Westminster and Quebec City slated to follow. ^[41]

For shoppers trying to navigate a holiday season defined by inflation, flat or shrinking budgets, and a constant hunt for deals, the combination of longer hours and new wholesale options makes Costco an even more central player in how Canadians stock their fridges, freezers and pantries.

As always, hours and services can vary slightly by location, so it’s worth checking the “Find a Warehouse” or Business Centre pages for your local club before you head out — particularly around Christmas and New Year’s.