WeightWatchers appears set to close dozens of Canadian locations Sunday
WeightWatchers appears set to close dozens of Canadian locations Sunday
This image shows the logo of WeightWatchers on a mobile phone, and the company's website, in New York, Tuesday, March 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
WW International appears set to close dozens of its roughly 118 WeightWatchers locations across Canada on March 26.
While the company has not formally announced the wave of closures, profiles for the affected locations on the WeightWatchers website note that the locations will close on Sunday while inviting members to register for virtual workshops. There are notices for 37 locations.
WeightWatchers is a fee-based weight loss program that employs meal plans, in-person and virtual workshops, a meal tracking app and a dietary "points budget" system to help clients lose weight. WW International also sells branded home goods, books and grocery items.
The company has operated since 1963 and has locations in each of Canada's 10 provinces, though none in the territories. Locations are apparently set to close in every province except Quebec.
The news came as a surprise to some long-time clients, like Liliane Guertin, who first saw it circulating in a private Facebook group last Wednesday.
During her usual weight loss workshop the following night, staff confirmed her location's final in-person session would take place March 23.
"Our meeting was on Thursday night and we were told this Thursday is the last day," Guertin told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview on Wednesday. "Apparently at the end of this week, these so-called studios will no longer exist."
She said staff at the location also told her they would be laid off as a result of the closure.
Guertin attends weekly workshops at a WeightWatchers location in Welland, Ont., and has been a WeightWatchers member on and off for 50 years. When she learned that many of the company's Canadian locations could close this month, she opted to cancel her membership rather than register for virtual workshops.
"I work every day online, I'm not interested in doing any more online," she said. "And as far as I was concerned, they had broken the contract, so I just wanted to cancel my membership."
Dow Jones Newswires reported in February that the company planned to reduce costs across its global business operations by laying off staff, centralizing global management and terminating leases in 2023.
Earlier this month, The Associated Press reported WeightWatchers is moving into the prescription drug weight loss business with the acquisition of Sequence, a telehealth provider that offers users access to diabetes and weight loss drugs such as Ozempic, Wegovy and Trulicity.
WW International did not respond to a request for comment from CTVNews.ca by publishing time.
A U.S. federal court unsealed an indictment against Donald Trump on Friday detailing 37 charges against the former president for retaining classified government documents after he left office in 2021.
Air Canada has rejected compensation claims from some travellers who were among the thousands affected by flight delays caused by computer problems in recent weeks -- a response it now calls 'erroneous,' with cash offers en route.
Amid raging wildfires in western and eastern provinces, vice-president of the Insurance Bureau of Canada, Craig Stewart, shares what residents need to know about wildfire policy coverage.
Environment Canada has been advising people to check the Air Quality Health Index as wildfire smoke blanketed large swaths of Canada in recent days, but even without wildfires, the index can be a useful tool to monitor air pollution.
Anthaea-Grace Patricia Dennis is not your typical 12-year-old. She is a child prodigy who's about to become the youngest Canadian to ever graduate from university.
The father of Tori Stafford, an Ontario girl who was murdered in 2009, says the latest decision to transfer convicted killer Paul Bernardo to a medium-security prison is a 'slap in the face' to all murder victims' families.
Two years after two statues were knocked down and damaged at the Manitoba Legislature, one is now back up and Indigenous leaders are upset by the decision.
Post tropical storm Fiona showed how quickly Canadians can be displaced by climate change. W5 looks into whether more people living in vulnerable areas will have to consider moving in the years to come.
Convicted murderer Daniel Jolivet, in prison for the past 30 years, has maintained his innocence since the day he was arrested. W5 reviews the evidence he painstakingly assembled while behind bars.
W5 Producer Shelley Ayres explains how she was in awe to meet what the Guinness Book of World Record's has named the World's Tallest Teenager, a 17-year-old from Quebec who plays for Team Canada.
CTV W5 investigates what authorities knew about plans to smuggle cocaine out of the Dominican Republic on a Toronto-bound Pivot Airlines flight. The airline's crew is demanding justice following their eight-month detention.
Gordie Sampson has written hit songs for some of the biggest names in country music, including Carrie Underwood and Luke Bryan. CTV W5 speaks with the Grammy winner from small-town Nova Scotia about his creative process.
A new report by the city’s ombudsman found that the Toronto Community Housing Corporation failed to properly address human rights complaints made by tenants and has not made human rights and the dignity of residents “a priority.”
Hundreds of counter-protesters gathered near two schools in Ottawa's west end on Friday to take a stand against a B.C. man who is protesting what he calls "gender ideology."
The Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway in Ottawa's west end will be renamed Kichi Zībī Mīkan, if approved by the National Capital Commission's board of directors.
The Ottawa Board of Trade has unveiled a "roadmap to transformation' for downtown Ottawa, and is calling on all three levels of government to declare the core "their top priority."
A driver accused of being impaired and having open liquor in the vehicle faces several charges after allegedly speeding along Highway 400 in Oro-Medonte.
Scoring the opening goal of game three of the Stanley Cup finals wasn’t the only celebration Florida Panthers defenceman Brandon Montour was a part of this week.
Police have shut down a section of Highway 401 westbound between Woodstock and Cambridge after a crash involving a transport truck and an Ontario Ministry of Transportation vehicle.
Police are requesting the public’s help in identifying a suspect they allege yelled ‘racial comments’ to pedestrians and damaged two vehicles by intentionally crashing into them last weekend in Grand Bend, Ont.
Montreal police (SPVM) stats for 2022 show that crime went up dramatically in 2022 and, taking COVID-19 pandemic numbers into account, violent crimes have been on the rise overall since 2017. In addition, motor vehicle thefts skyrocketed, having more than doubled since pre pandemic years.
The arrival of firefighters from France and New Brunswick is expected to bolster efforts to contain and control the large number of fires burning across Quebec in what's expected to be a marathon wildfire season, officials said Friday. Maite Blanchette Vezina, the province's minister of forests and natural resources, said the situation in the province remains critical but is improving.
A 50-year-old man who was severely beaten in the parking lot of Montreal's famed Orange Julep restaurant last month has died of his injuries, police said Friday. The victim died of his injuries in hospital on Thursday following the May 31 altercation. The Montreal police service's major crime unit is now investigating the man's death as the city's 10th homicide of the year.
Nova Scotia has lifted its mandatory evacuation order for Shelburne County, in the area where the largest recorded wildfire in provincial history has been burning for about two weeks.
The Halifax Regional Municipality says it will announce Thursday when more residents can return to their homes in communities impacted by the Tantallon wildfires.
Winnipeg police say a woman is in hospital with severe injuries after she was allegedly stabbed by a man in what police describe as a completely random and unprovoked attack.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith named her new cabinet Friday, about two weeks after her United Conservative Party took the majority of seats in Alberta.
WestJet and Swoop pilots have ratified a new collective agreement after a bargaining process that saw the threat of a strike snarl many Canadians' long weekend plans last month.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith named her new cabinet Friday, about two weeks after her United Conservative Party took the majority of seats in Alberta.
Statistics Canada released its May 2023 Labour Force Survey on Friday, which showed Alberta's unemployment rate dipping to 5.7 per cent, down from 5.9 per cent in April.
Showers on Saturday could sprinkle an aggressive wildfire that has forced more than two-thousand people from their homes in northeastern British Columbia, but forecasters say thunderstorms could sweep the parched region before any rain arrives.
Canada requested use of the European Union's compound in Kabul to help with tasks such as fingerprinting for those fleeing Afghanistan, according to documents obtained by The Canadian Press.
The Supreme Court of Canada will not hear the appeal of an Alberta woman who was unwilling to be vaccinated in order to get a life-saving organ transplant.
A little white pill has given Syrian President Bashar Assad powerful leverage with his Arab neighbours, who have been willing to bring him out of pariah status in hopes he will stop the flow of highly addictive Captagon amphetamines out of Syria.
Canadians who make content online are to be excluded from future regulations that the Liberal government is imposing on digital giants, a new draft policy shows.
Facebook owner Meta Platforms on Thursday gave employees a sneak peek at a series of AI tools it was building, including ChatGPT-like chatbots planned for Messenger and WhatsApp that could converse using different personas.
Scientists have documented the first-known instance of a 'virgin birth' by a crocodile, which had been living in isolation for 16 years at Costa Rican zoo, according to a study published Wednesday.
Daily U.S. sign-ups for Netflix have jumped in the first few days after the streaming giant's password-sharing crackdown came into effect on May 23, data from research firm Antenna showed.
A Tennessee man pleaded guilty Friday to helping two other men charged with fatally shooting rapper Young Dolph in a daytime ambush at a Memphis bakery.
Air Canada has rejected compensation claims from some travellers who were among the thousands affected by flight delays caused by computer problems in recent weeks -- a response it now calls 'erroneous,' with cash offers en route.
Canada's unemployment rate ticked up in May for the first time in nine months, but forecasters say the Bank of Canada will have to see more softening in the economy before it takes it takes a step back from raising interest rates.
WestJet and Swoop pilots have ratified a new collective agreement after a bargaining process that saw the threat of a strike snarl many Canadians' long weekend plans last month.
Rescuers in Washington state are praising the resourcefulness of a 10-year-old girl who survived on her own for more than 24 hours in the rugged terrain of the Cascade mountains after getting lost while out with her family.
The April Facebook post hardly seemed like national news at the time for Deptford Little League president Don Bozzuffi. He'd lost patience when two umpires resigned in the wake of persistent spectator abuse. So he wrote an updated code of conduct.
Ford has planned a return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans with its iconic Mustang muscle car next year under a massive rebranding of Ford Performance aimed at bringing the automotive manufacturer "into the racing business."
A group of climate activists claimed responsibility on Wednesday for deflating the tires of sport utility vehicles in Denmark's capital. More than 100 vehicles were vandalized, police said.
This image shows the logo of WeightWatchers on a mobile phone, and the company's website, in New York, Tuesday, March 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
