City by city domination, Toronto

Sam walton grew walmart from 1 store to 10,000+ one city at a time

If you're a brand trying to break into Canada or…

you just want to take over one city at a time, a city expansion strategy might be the move.

Method:

Precedent:

Brand has great presence in the U.S

Wants to have a big push into Canada

Brands that took one city first

• Alo Yoga. Its first store in Canada took the old Gap space at 60 Bloor St. W. in Yorkville, three storeys and 17,000 square feet, announced in February 2022 as the first expansion into Canada, with more of the country to follow. Streets of Toronto

• Oatly. It went into the United States through coffee shops rather than supermarkets. In New York it went from a dozen cafes in January 2017 to more than 200 by October 2017, and across the US from 10 coffee shops to more than 1,000 shops in a year. Sprudge, October 2017, Time, March 2018

• Barry's Bootcamp. The American fitness brand opened its first studio in Canada at 310 Richmond Street West, an 8,000-square-foot space that blogTO called the brand's first in Canada and its biggest one yet, and by May 2018 blogTO was reporting a second Toronto location near Bay and Cumberland. blogTO, blogTO on the second studio

• Equinox. Its first club in Canada took a 40,000 square foot site at Commerce Court, which its release called the best location in the financial capital of Canada, and blogTO reviewed the club a month after it opened. the release, blogTO

1. Sponsorwith groups/cubs
2. Co-host events
3. Parnter with local influencers
4. Host Creator Dinners
5. PR stunts

It's one of the best value ways to create a flywheel where the advertising goes itself through word of mouth.

Why it works?

Contents

1. Sponsor groups and clubs
2. Co-host events
3. Partner with local influencers
4. Host creator dinners
5. PR stunts

1. Sponsor groups and clubs

Target clubs

• Midnight Runners Toronto (25.2K followers): weekly runs, Tuesdays at 7pm
• Toronto Girl Social (20.9K followers): events to make new friends
• Toronto Girls Walking Club (13.5K followers): group walks to make new friends
• The Health Cafe (9.5K followers): women's social wellness club, pilates, HIIT and yoga
• Asian Toronto Running Club (9K followers): Sat 5K and Wed 10K runs at Canoe Landing Park
• Kardia (6.8K followers): waterfront yoga, spin and run community
• PAKT (3K followers): fitness and social club, strength, pilates and yoga
• fivesixty (2.3K followers): curated events for people 30+
• Toronto Wellness Club (866 followers): pilates mornings at the Kimpton Saint George
• The Step Club Toronto (241 followers): ladies step nights across the GTA

Combined: 91.2K followers, read 13 Sep 2026

Bigger Toronto accounts, by topic

City guides and events

• Toronto Culture (859.9K followers): culture news for Toronto
• CULTR Toronto (820.6K followers): Toronto culture, lifestyle and events
• Streets of Toronto (733.7K followers): a city guide, one street at a time
• Toronto Life (514.4K followers): the city magazine, for over 50 years
• Curiocity Toronto (469.6K followers): local food, experiences and deals
• datenight Toronto (190.6K followers): date ideas and experiences

Combined: 3.59M followers, read 13 Sep 2026

Past Collabs

• Midnight Runners Toronto: 5 health and wellness brand collab posts since 1 June, with Nike Running, Vita Coco and Ryde.

• Toronto Girl Social: 3 health and wellness brand collab posts since 1 June, with ZOA Energy.

• Toronto Girls Walking Club: 3 health and wellness brand collab posts since 1 June, with Juice Co.

• The Health Cafe: 3 health and wellness brand collab posts since 1 June, with Saje, Nature's Sunshine, Beck's Broth and Blume.

• Asian Toronto Running Club: 1 health and wellness brand collab post since 1 June, with Under Armour.

• PAKT: 1 health and wellness brand collab post since 1 June, with Alo.

• Toronto Wellness Club: 10 health and wellness brand collab posts since 1 June, with Cira, Betterkind, Sylen, DOSE Juice and 1 more.

• The Step Club Toronto: 2 health and wellness brand collab posts since 1 June, with Cira, Freshouse, Trubar and Popeyes Supplements.

Which brand has already done this with several of these clubs?

Cira Nutrition, a small Canadian-owned company based in St. John's, Newfoundland, shows up in 7 posts from 2 of the clubs above since June. Each time it put its drinks or goodies into an event the club was already running. ciranutrition.com

Its Instagram bio lists Costco Canada, Amazon and Well.ca, and it had 51.5K followers on 14 Sep 2026.

Where Cira showed up, one row per post, with the place where the post names one.

Getting in touch with clubs

2. Co-host events

What have brands already done with creators in Toronto?

• Take over a fitness studio. Orveon's beauty brands took over two Sweat & Tonic studios for a month in July 2024, invited influencers to sponsored classes and gave them PR kits. source

• Sponsor a big weekend in the city. Celsius made its first Canadian activation at the NHL All-Star Weekend in Toronto in February 2024, with a photo booth and influencers Snarky Marky, Kevin Wendt and Aleeya Hutchins. source

• Let creators host the pop-up. K-Beauty Layover, a pop-up of about 15 Korean beauty brands, was hosted and promoted by the creators @myskinisglass and @kbeautymuse in September 2025. source
• Get into a TIFF gifting lounge. Media and creators tried products at the Bask-It-Style lounge at the Fairmont Royal York during TIFF in September 2023. source

• Lifted Fitness and Saje Natural Wellness had their own stations inside NKPR's IT House lounge during TIFF in September 2022. source

• Show up at Pride on Church Street. Skittles ran a street activation in June 2026 with sampling, drag hosts Miss Moco and JayJay Kings, and a sticker wall that raised money for Rainbow Railroad. source

• Line up the neighbours before you open. Glossier ran a week-long pop-up on West Queen West in September 2017, with pre-launch events alongside The Drake Hotel, Ace Hill, La Palma and Coyote Flowers, a movie night, and founder Emily Weiss meeting fans. The agency behind it says foot traffic reached 7,390. case study, blogTO

Go where creators already meet

• Social Rising, 1,284 Toronto members, meetups on 14, 17 and 21 September 2026, and a path for a brand to present a product. source

• Women Who Network, women content creators in Toronto, a WhatsApp group and a partnerships email. Recent activity not confirmed. source
• THE MIXER by Buttered Branding, an evening built to pair Toronto creators with brands, last held 30 January 2025. source
• Now Common, 2,011 members, creators and founders. source

3. Partner with local influencers

Target influencers

• Nicole Osinga (149.2K followers): registered dietitian, meal prep
• Sara Mastrangelo (94.5K followers): vegan fitness
• Mandy Ross (78.6K followers): yoga and wellness
• Jayde (66.7K followers): gut-friendly recipes, nutritionist
• Kristy Carson (29.4K followers): spin instructor, strength coach, run club
• Danielle Perruzza (25.1K followers): yoga flow and reformer pilates
• Hanna Lenskis (19K followers): pilates, weight training and recipes
• Seanna Thomas (16.7K followers): meal prep and nutrition for busy Canadian families
• KM (14.6K followers): trainer and nutritionist for women 35+

Combined: 493.8K followers, read 13 Sep 2026

Popular Toronto creators, women's health and wellness

• Lyzabeth Lopez (1.48M followers): weight loss coaching for women
• Kelsey Rose (451K followers): trainer helping busy women 30+ lose weight
• Sam Cutler Mengel (336.2K followers): nutrition coach, founder of mindfull
• Lamisaa Mahmud (192.1K followers): coach helping women stop self sabotage
• Sana (170.1K followers): PCOS and weight loss dietitian
• Ashleigh (159.9K followers): hormone and gut nutritionist
• Maggie Watson (115.2K followers): IFBB pro, empowering women to get active and strong
• Shania Bhopa (107.6K followers): doctor, researcher and author
• Adele Kiriakou (99.8K followers): nutritionist helping women 30+ with hormones
• Joanna Nicholson (74.1K followers): fitness and pilates for moms and busy women
• Trudie German (43.8K followers): perimenopause coach
• Kristy Carson (29.4K followers): fitness and motherhood, spin and strength coach
• Rachel Schwartzman (26.8K followers): naturopathic doctor and birth doula

Combined: 3.29M followers, as stored in our database

https://www.instagram.com/midnightrunnerstoronto/

One contact, many creators

A talent manager can put a brand in front of a whole roster with one email.

• Dulcedo, Toronto office at 101 Richmond St E, represents fitness, wellness, food and lifestyle creators. source
• Shine Talent Group, offices in Los Angeles, Toronto and London, 300+ creators. source
• AMP Talent Group, 100 King St W, works across health, wellness, food, beauty and lifestyle. source
• Gab Group, head office in Toronto, sports, food, nutrition and home talent. source
• The Influence Agency, founded in Toronto in 2017, 213 Sterling Rd. source
• Clark Influence, 50 Carroll Street. source

• NKPR, PR firm with a talent and influencer practice, 686 Richmond St W. source
• Bloom (Make It Bloom), Toronto office at 100 University Ave. source

Managers we found in the bios of Toronto creators we already hold: Grail Talent manages 4 of them, one with 360,509 followers. About Talent, Dulcedo, Social Climate and Rally Creators each manage 2.

4. Host creator dinners

From dour database

985 Toronto and GTA creators over 10,000 followers, 264 of them in health and wellness and 101 of those over 50,000 followers. source

5. PR stunts

What did a big press push look like in Toronto?

• SoulCycle, 2016 to 2017. CTV News ran the story of its planned Toronto studio on November 11, 2016, the year before it opened, and blogTO's page on the studio gave the numbers: 55 bikes in one dimly-lit room, $28 a ride with $2 to rent the shoes. CTV News, blogTO

• Peloton's first showroom in Canada, October 2018. Its launch release carried the address, 130 Bloor Street West, the price, $2,950, a plan for another 10 showrooms in the next 12-18 months, a survey finding 75% of Canadians agree that making time to get to an exercise class is difficult, and its managing director in Toronto for interviews. the release, MonteCristo Magazine

Get the city guides to cover it

Toronto Culture, CULTR Toronto, Streets of Toronto, Toronto Life and Curiocity Toronto reach 3.4M followers between them and post what is happening in the city. Invite them to the club event you sponsor, so the story reaches people who do not follow a single wellness account.

PR ideas for a brand entering Toronto

• Get the coming to Toronto story written before you open. CTV News ran SoulCycle's planned Toronto studio on November 11, 2016, the year before it opened.
• Put a survey and a spokesperson in the launch release. Peloton's release said 75% of Canadians agree that making time to get to an exercise class is difficult, and put its managing director, Kevin Cornils, in Toronto for interviews.
• Make the first room the biggest one you have built, and say so. blogTO called Barry's Bootcamp's Toronto studio the brand's first in Canada and its biggest one yet.