A family-run toy company based in Vaughan, Ont. says they were never paid for hundreds of products shipped to Toys “R” Us Canada and are now out more than $166,000 after the company entered creditor protection. KidsVIP Canada primarily sells toys that children can ride on, from push cars to battery-powered vehicles resembling luxury brands. Victoria Snaider, the owner of KidsVIP Canada, says they have been supplying their toys to the Canadian big box retailer for a couple of years. But towards the end of 2024, Snaider says Toys “R” Us Canada started missing out on payments. “They constantly continue to ask us to ship the products and that we will be paid by end of the holidays, 2025, which has never happened,” Snaider said. CTV News Toronto reviewed more than a dozen emails where Toys “R” Us Canada appeared to acknowledge the payment issue to KidsVIP Canada. In one email in October 2025, the company conceded that “cash is so tight,” but promised that by Black Friday they would be in a better financial position. Snaider says they stopped hearing from the retailer by mid-November. Based on the invoices reviewed by CTV News, Toys “R” Us Canada owes the family-run business more than $166,000 for the 680 toys KidsVIP supplied to them. After calling one of the retailer’s representatives to inquire about the missing payments, Snaider says she was instructed to sue them. “So, this is what I did, and I prepared all the case and everything, and on the day that we were supposed to give the documents to Toys ‘R’ Us, they filed CCAA,” Snaider said. “We’re immigrants. We started this business with zero money ... Now, to cover up all the expenses, we’re taking loans with 30-to-40 per cent fees because we don’t have any option. Other option is just to close the business and go home.” What is happening with Toys “R” Us Toys “R” Us Canada filed for creditor protection on Feb. 3, 2026. The court appointed Alvarez & Marsal Canada Inc. as the monitor of the retailer, meaning it is now responsible for handling the retailer’s financial affairs. The monitor is expected to carry on the proceedings of the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA), which is the federal statute laying down the framework of how an insolvent company can restructure through the court’s supervision. About two months later, the superior court granted an order to launch the sale and investment solicitation process (SISP) of Toys “R” Us Canada. In this case, that opened the toy retailer’s assets and intellectual property up for bidding. “Generally, the idea is to free up a pool of cash to satisfy the claims of different creditors,” Jeff Berger, managing director at TDB Restructuring Limited, said, adding that creditors can be anyone from an employee to a landlord, so long as they are owed money. By July, the monitor revealed which bidders were successful. Ad Populum LLC, an American firm managing several toy companies, acquired all of Toys “R” Us Canada and Babies “R” Us Canada’s intellectual property. Court records also reveal Fox Group Jumbo Canada, an Israel-based company opening discount stores in the country, bought the lease to a store at Vaughan Mills. When will creditors get paid? When Toys “R” Us Canada first filed for creditor protection in February, Alvarez & Marsal Canada Inc. notified all suppliers that they must continue to supply their products or services during the “stay period.” Berger explained this period represents a line in the sand as anyone who is owed money up to, and including, that point is prevented from launching independent action against the insolvent company. “It levels the playing field and it gives the company and the professionals who are advising a little bit of breathing room to understand the situation, get the lay of the land, and understand how to best proceed, always with a view to maximizing the realizations for the benefit of stakeholders,” Berger said, noting that it is a consistent principle in the insolvency process. What typically happens in these proceedings, Berger explains, is the company first pays off deemed trust claims, which include any deductions from employee wages like CPP contributions and EI premiums. Then they will start paying off secured creditors, before unsecured creditors. A secured creditor is comparable to a mortgage one takes on a home as a form of security, Berger explained. “You’re pledging that asset to the bank, and they know that if anything happens and you default on the mortgage, they can seize that asset and sell it to recover their losses or the amount they pay. That’s really, in simplest terms, the concept of a secured debt,” Berger said. There are hundreds of creditors who are owed some level of payment from Toys “R” Us Canada, according to the publicly available list of creditors. The secured creditors, of which there are only two corporations listed, are owed more than $91 million, while the unsecured creditors are owed a total of roughly $159.2 million. “In a lot of cases, there’s not probably going to be a tremendous amount left for unsecured creditors,” Berger said. Unsecured creditors would have to file a proof of claim against Toys “R” Us Canada, and the monitor would then review the claims and decide whether they get admitted. If accepted, the claim will be left with a claims register, which Berger explains is essentially a list detailing everyone and their amounts. “Any funds that are available to pay out to the unsecured creditors would be done on a pro rata basis, a proportionate basis based on the value of the claims admitted,” Berger said. Though Berger is not directly involved with the insolvency process for Toys “R” Us Canada, he says he understands how mom-and-pop suppliers like KidsVIP Canada can feel daunted. But he says the process is intended to be fair and transparent. “The idea is not to try and pull a quick one, it’s all very much to stabilize and create a level playing field for all creditors and stakeholders,” he said. For Snaider, she says nobody has communicated how and when KidsVIP Canada will get the money they are still owed and she is now growing concerned that her company will never be reimbursed. “I’m not asking something unusual, just something that has to be done and every business has to be considered in this situation,” Snaider said. CTV News Toronto repeatedly contacted Alvarez & Marsal Canada Inc. and Toys “R” Us Canada for comment but did not receive a response.
