[written by Sean B. Pasternak and Katia Dmitrieva - Bloomberg News, courtesy of FinancialPost.com]

Target, the second-largest U.S. discount retailer, will hire as many as 27,000 people in Canada next year for its first stores in the country. Bloomberg

Target Corp. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. plan to hire tens of thousands of workers in Canada over the next two years, increasing pressure on domestic retailers from Sears Canada Inc. to Canadian Tire Corp Ltd.

Target, the second-largest U.S. discount retailer, will hire as many as 27,000 people in Canada next year for its first stores in the country, while Wal-Mart said it plans to add 4,000 employees this year, about 500 more than it initially forecast.

“We’re in a period of great dislocation,” due to the rising presence of U.S. competitors, said Keith Howlett, retail analyst at Desjardins Securities Inc. in Toronto. “It’s going to be an extremely challenging time for retailers.”

U.S. retailers are heading north to take advantage of a economy expanding at a 1.9% pace and falling jobless rate. Canadian employment has grown 3% since 2008 while U.S. employment shrank 3.6%.

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