Canadian Textile Recycling: Leading Exporter of Wholesale Secondhand Textiles from Canada

Company overview

Canadian Textile Recycling Ltd. is at 5385 Munro Court, Burlington, Ontario L7L 5M7, and states more than 40 years in the trade. It runs three quite different businesses from one address: export distribution, secure destruction, and supply to thrift stores.

The export side covers mixed rags, shoes, toys, books and bric-a-brac, meaning household items. The thrift store side sorts to order for small and larger shops in North America. The destruction side is the one worth reading closely, because nothing else in this directory does it.

Secure destruction, and why a buyer should care

The company destroys branded clothing and sensitive uniforms, with industrial shredders, certificates issued after the work, confirmation of an unbroken chain of custody, and witnessed destruction available on request. It also offers a privacy assessment tailored to the client's business.

Its stated clients are government offices, police services, security companies, high-end branded clothing names and private label companies. What gets destroyed includes obsolete or recalled products, warranty repairs, prototypes, unapproved samples and confiscated goods.

If you buy second-hand clothing for a living, this page answers a question you have probably asked. There are labels you almost never find in a bale, and the reason is not that nobody donates them. It is that the brand paid to have them shredded rather than let them circulate at a price it does not control. Recalls, samples, seconds and cancelled orders all leave the supply chain the same way. That is a structural fact about what is available to you, and understanding it saves you chasing a grade that does not exist.

It also gives you a fair question to put to any company doing both jobs at once. A destruction service is only as good as the wall between it and the resale stream, so ask how the two are physically separated and what the certificate actually certifies. A company that answers that clearly has thought about it, and the answer matters as much to you as a buyer of their resale goods as it does to the brand that hired them. Anyone comparing second-hand clothing suppliers can treat a documented chain of custody as a sign of an operation that keeps records.

Thrift store supply, sorted to order

The second line is aimed at small and larger thrift stores rather than exporters: items sorted to the shop's requirements, with shipment directly to your locations at a small additional cost.

That is a different proposition from a container of graded bales, and it suits a different buyer. A single shop or a small chain does not want 25 tonnes of anything, and it does want the mix weighted towards what actually sells on its floor. Sorted to order means somebody upstream is doing the work your staff would otherwise do in the back room, which is worth paying for if your labour costs more than theirs.

Ask what the minimum is per delivery, how the sort specification is agreed, and how far the shipping offer reaches, since a small additional cost across Ontario and a small additional cost across the continent are different sentences. If you are new to this vocabulary, the grade glossary explains the terms a sorted-to-order conversation will use, and the account of how sorting operations split their intake explains what can and cannot be promised at small volume.

Appointment picking, and the practical details

Private appointments are available for pickers of vintage and lightly used clothing to make their own selections. That is the third customer type served from the same building, alongside the exporter and the thrift shop.

Two practical notes before you call. Opening hours are Monday to Friday, 8 am to 2 pm, which is a short window and rules out an afternoon visit. And Burlington puts the company in the same Ontario corridor as several other North American exporters in this directory, close to the 401 and within reach of the Toronto ports of entry, so combining visits on one trip is realistic.

No grades, bale weights or prices are published, which is usual at this size. Establish the specification in writing before the first order. Contact is [email protected], office (905) 632-1464 or mobile (905) 308-4488. For a wholesale buyer, the useful thing here is the breadth: one supplier who can fill an export container, stock a shop, and let a vintage buyer pick by hand.

Frequently asked questions

Where is Canadian Textile Recycling based?

At 5385 Munro Court, Burlington, Ontario L7L 5M7, Canada, with more than 40 years in the trade.

What does the company export?

Mixed rags, shoes, toys, books and bric-a-brac, meaning household items, alongside gently used clothing.

What is the destruction service?

Secure shredding of branded clothing, uniforms, recalled goods, prototypes, unapproved samples and confiscated items, with certificates, chain of custody and witnessed destruction on request.

Can a small thrift store buy from them?

Yes. Items are sorted to order for small and larger thrift stores, with delivery to your locations at a small additional cost.

Can I come and pick items myself?

Yes, by private appointment for vintage and lightly used clothing. Opening hours are Monday to Friday, 8 am to 2 pm.