SSense

In February, Montréal-based luxury e-commerce fashion retailer SSense laid off over 200 employees, specifically 169 at its Saint-Laurent warehouse and 46 at its office. This represented a significant reduction from its workforce, as the founders' buyback plan aimed to retain approximately 760 employees. The layoffs, attributed to economic reasons, occurred just two days after a Québec court approved the founders' $78-million bid to reclaim the company from bankruptcy protection, blocking lenders' push for an asset sale. The company, once valued at over $5 billion, had struggled with falling sales due to shifting consumer habits, rising interest rates, and a detrimental U.S. trade policy change, leading to its 2025 bankruptcy filing.

SSENSE, a Montreal-based luxury fashion retail startup, laid off approximately 138 employees, representing about 7% of its workforce, in early 2023. The company cited the need for long-term sustainability amid broader economic pressures affecting the tech industry. This marked the first layoff in SSENSE's 20-year history, as it joined numerous other Canadian startups and global tech giants in reducing staff during a period of significant market volatility and downturn.