Kleenex maker Kimberly-Clark to stop selling tissues in Canada

The company behind Kleenex tissues has decided to stop selling the popular facial wipes in Canada.

In a statement to news outlets, including CTV News, Kimberly-Clark said it will no longer sell Kleenex consumer facial tissues in the country as of August 2023.

“The decision was incredibly difficult for us to make, and we appreciate consumers allowing us into their homes over the decades, and to our retail partners for their support,” Todd Fisher, Kimberly-Clark’s Canadian vice president and general manager, said in the statement.

“We have been operating in a highly constrained supply environment, and despite our best efforts we have been faced with some unique complexities on the Kleenex business.”

Fisher added that the move will allow the company to “shift our resources to better focus on other brands in Canada and meet the needs of our consumers with continued innovation and value.”

In addition to Kleenex, Kimberly-Clark is known for a variety of paper product brands, including Huggies, Depend, Cottonelle, and Poise.

While Kleenex tissues will disappear from shelves across Canada, the company said its “professional facial products” and “consumer hand towel products” bearing the name will continue to be sold.

According to LinkedIn, Kimberly-Clark employs a total workforce of more than 35,000 people. Over 300 workers are located in Canada.

Kleenex leaving Canada as major layoffs continue

Kimberly-Clark’s decision to stop selling Kleenex tissues in Canada comes amid a flurry of layoffs in 2023.

Major North American companies, including RBC, Ross Video, Dell, Discord, Telus, Microsoft, Ritual, and Meta, are significantly scaling back their staffing levels as they continue to navigate challenging economic conditions.

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Termination agreements for Kimberly-Clark employees

Kimberly-Clark’s decision to stop selling Kleenex tissues in Canada could result in non-unionized employees at the company being fired without cause or let go.

In Canada, non-unionized employees at Kimberly-Clark are owed full severance pay when they lose their jobs due to downsizing, corporate restructuring, or the closure of the business.

This includes individuals working full-time, part-time, or hourly in Ontario, Alberta, and B.C.

People working “on contract” or as a contractor may also be owed severance pay — given that many employees in Canada are often misclassified as independent contractors.

Severance can be as much as 24 months’ pay, depending on a number of factors.

LEARN MORE
• Rights to severance for provincially regulated employees
• Severance entitlements during mass layoffs
• Severance pay during a recession

WATCH: Employment lawyer Lior Samfiru explains what rights employees have if they are being fired or let go on an episode of the Employment Law Show.

Before you accept any severance offer, have an experienced employment lawyer at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP review it and your employment contract.

We can tell you if what you have been provided is fair and how to get proper severance if it falls short of what you are actually owed.

If you don’t receive the full amount, which happens often, you have been wrongfully dismissed and are entitled to compensation.

In some cases, employers pressure staff into accepting poor severance packages, such as imposing a deadline for accepting the offer.

Non-unionized employees in Canada have up to two years from the date of their dismissal to pursue a claim for full severance pay.