The mandate going through most loyalty operators proper now’s to ship extra worth whereas spending much less and proving the ROI, and the mathematics doesn’t work by itself.
Canadian customers have turned to factors and rewards as a sensible hedge in opposition to the price of on a regular basis life, and their expectations are rising quick. In the meantime, budgets are declining inside the organizations operating these applications.
Strategic partnerships are some of the credible solutions to that pressure: the multi-year, customer-centric form that expands what a program can supply with out requiring the model to hold the complete price alone.
In latest interviews, three of Canada’s most lively architects of this shift shared what they’ve constructed, what they’ve discovered, and what it truly takes to get these partnerships off the bottom. All three might be keynote audio system at The BIG Handshake™ Loyalty Toronto on April 21, 2026.
- Josh Meyer is AVP Loyalty Partnerships at Canadian Tire
- Rachel MacAdam is VP Advertising at Skip
- Steve McClelland is VP Loyalty at WestJet
Why Partnerships, and Why Now
For Rachel MacAdam, partnerships are structural to how Skip+ was designed from the beginning:
“Partnerships add great worth to a loyalty technique, opening up new attain and audiences you won’t in any other case have, and creating an amazing alternative for worth trade.”
Josh Meyer frames it because the logical evolution of a program that had grown so far as it might inside its personal enterprise:
“The subsequent logical step in offering relevance by way of locations to earn and methods to interact prospects goes exterior of our personal enterprise.”
For Steve McClelland, the change is much less about significance and extra about friction. Linking know-how has made it cheaper and sooner than ever for patrons to attach applications, eradicating the necessity for costly point-of-sale integrations or bodily playing cards:
“Partnerships are simply as vital as they was once. What has modified is how they are often leveraged. Linking know-how makes it cheaper to get in and deploy at scale.”
Selecting the Proper Companion
All three executives are emphatic: not each partnership is the proper partnership. Steve McClelland recommends beginning with classes earlier than evaluating particular manufacturers. For WestJet, the framework is monetary companies first, then gas, grocery, and high-frequency retail, a portfolio that helps the aspirational journey WestJet in the end sells:
“You take a look at the classes you’re attempting to fill, then ask what partnerships will help the engagement and exercise you need. After that, it’s extra of a relationship sport of who’s out there and when you’re a very good match.”
Rachel MacAdam describes Skip’s analysis by way of model match as a lot as useful worth:
“We haven’t partnered with each model that has come to us. It wants to suit the standards. We would like a curated record that our prospects can take a look at and say, I perceive why Skip is partnering with them, and they’re bringing one thing of worth to me.”
WestJet, Reside Nation, and CIBC every serve a definite objective. None of them is there just because they confirmed up.
Josh Meyer provides a layer many manufacturers overlook: in Canada’s more and more interconnected loyalty panorama, you can’t consider a potential accomplice in isolation:
“You could think about not solely who your potential companions are, but in addition who their companions are, and any conflicts or complementary results that will come up primarily based on their accomplice networks.”
The Flywheel in Apply
These three applications are usually not simply philosophically aligned; they’re immediately related. Skip and Canadian Tire are each lively WestJet companions. WestJet factors could be earned on Skip orders and redeemed for Skip credit. Triangle Rewards members will quickly earn Canadian Tire cash by WestJet exercise, creating an internet of mutual reinforcement that advantages members throughout all three applications.
What makes the mannequin distinct from a standard coalition is that model possession is preserved on either side. It’s an ‘and’ proposition somewhat than an ‘or’ proposition, as Josh Meyer places it:
“We’re solely giving prospects the choices to earn extra. And that’s actually effectively obtained within the present economic system.”
Rachel MacAdam describes the same dynamic at Skip, the place the partnership mannequin is explicitly designed to create mutual worth for the shopper and each manufacturers:
“Whenever you create mutual worth for each manufacturers, you’re each dedicated to constructing the connection. In all of our partnerships, there’s a mutual want to innovate and develop.”
What the Numbers Are Exhibiting
Canadian Tire is furthest together with Petro-Canada, now roughly two years in. Clients who interact with that partnership subsequently spend extra at Canadian Tire’s retail banners, to the tune of over $100 million up to now, in comparison with lookalike prospects who don’t. Josh Meyer is cautious concerning the language:
“It has confirmed our speculation. It actually provides us a variety of confidence as we transfer ahead with our different companions. It did show causality, not simply correlation.”
For Canadian Tire, RBC launched on the finish of October with early participation monitoring forward of expectations, and linking, which some have flagged as a friction level, has not confirmed to be a barrier.
At WestJet, Steve McClelland describes a robust begin with each TELUS and Skip:
“We went by our yr one linking goal on TELUS inside two days. We’re additionally effectively forward of schedule with Skip. Canadian customers are prepared to take part when the worth is there, and it’s simple and low friction.”
At Skip, CIBC prospects acquired by the partnership are proving to be greater worth than these from different channels. A well-chosen accomplice brings an viewers with real affinity.
The WestJet knowledge at Skip is especially instructive: when prospects redeem WestJet factors on Skip, they place one other order inside two to 3 days. They’re stretching their greenback and coming again for extra.
What It Takes to Get There
Josh Meyer identifies inside readiness as probably the most underappreciated prerequisite, extra important than know-how or finances:
“Corporations actually should be able to embrace partnerships as a core pillar of their loyalty and buyer methods. It takes a variety of funding, assets, and organizational alignment. It isn’t a small feat to deliver these off the bottom.”
Steve McClelland’s recommendation: perceive your personal program deeply earlier than bringing in companions: outline your worth proposition, your goal segments, your technique. Rachel MacAdam provides a pointed observe for manufacturers that assume partnerships are just for giant organizations:
“Generally it’s higher to accomplice with one other model when you can’t actually drive scale and frequency by yourself. Constructing emotional loyalty is an underrated aspect of a loyalty worth proposition.”
Josh Meyer’s closing reflection captures the spirit of all three views:
“Partnerships are usually not for the faint of coronary heart. They are often massively impactful, however it’s an organizational muscle you need to construct. You get out what you place in. The outcomes, I believe, converse for themselves.”
Editor’s Be aware
Josh Meyer, Rachel MacAdam, and Steve McClelland might be keynote audio system at The BIG Handshake™ Loyalty Toronto, happening on April 21, 2026, on the Sheraton Centre Toronto. Registration right here.
