What to know
- The $1.99 Canadian Tire tote went viral after ‘Heated Rivalry’ star Hudson Williams was photographed using it.
- Fans rushed to buy the bag, prompting Canadian Tire to soon restock after it sold out nationwide.
- A fashion expert says the tote’s popularity is about more than style. It’s become a symbol of community and Canadian identity.
- The accessible price stands in stark contrast to the show’s pricey $356 fleece jacket, fueling further buzz.
When Hudson Williams of Heated Rivalry was spotted with a $1.99 Canadian Tire tote, fans quickly transformed the humble reusable bag into this summer’s hottest accessory. But as the trend exploded, a fashion expert says the bag’s true significance goes beyond the celebrity, and into the community.
Crave’s Canadian Queer hockey drama, based on Rachel Reid’s Game Changers novel series, has made headlines for challenging traditional views of masculinity in sports and its representation of Queer love on mainstream TV.
Since then, anything and everything related to Heated Rivalry has been all the craze. Recently, fans were obsessed with the Heated Rivalry jacket Hudson Williams, playing Shane Hollander, wore in the second episode of the show.
Williams had even given a jacket to Prime Minister Mark Carney, who immediately wore it at the Prime Time conference.
But the white zip-up fleece also had Canadians fuming for its hefty $356 price tag.
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The pair is reportedly filming in Hamilton and around Toronto and the GTA as part of the second season of the viral show.
Recently, Williams was spotted walking with a Canadian Tire reusable tote bag in hand, alongside his colleague and in-show love interest, Connor Storrie, who plays Ilya Rozanov.
This affordable $1.99 bag comes in trend after Canadians were fuming over the Province of Canada’s $400 fleece.
Canadian Tire operates over 1,600 retail locations nationwide, selling automotive parts, hardware, sports gear, and seasonal home goods. It also offers gas stations and financial services.
The store is also known as an iconic Canadian staple — even more so since Williams was spotted using a Canadian Tire tote bag.
The bag consists of a lightweight polypropylene plastic mesh sack with an exterior red-and-black plaid pattern, accompanied by black straps and the central Canadian Tire logo. While the item used to be a last-minute grab at cash registers when you forgot your reusable grocery bags, Williams’ viral picture turned it into a must-have fashion statement.
‘Consider me Hudfluenced’: The Heated Rivalry fandom is going crazy for the Canadian Tire bag
Since the post went viral, the Heated Rivalry fandom has been trying to get their hands on the bag. So much so, the bag sold out, and Canadian Tire shared in an Instagram post that they are currently restocking.
“Reduce, reuse, rivalry, repeat,” one Instagram user wrote.
“Grabbing one is my biggest flex of 2026,” another flexed.
“Hudson, helping the Canadian economy one reusable bag at a time!” one user celebrated
“Lowkey the perfect bag for the cottage,” one said.
“A lovely Canadian loon offered to ship one to the U.K. for me. Consider me Hudfluenced,” another commented.
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- ‘The best antidote to hate,’ Heated Rivalry showrunner Jacob Tierney on the importance of Queer joy and representation
- The Met Gala’s ‘Costume Art’ had Canadian celebrities bring in their best outfits, but fans have mixed reactions
- Airbnb opens limited bookings for iconic ‘Heated Rivalry’ cottage in Muskoka
- ‘Heated Rivalry’s’ Hudson Williams reveals professional athletes have been coming out to him via email
A fashion expert breaks down the trendy bag
Gail McInnes, senior director at ChangeMakers and fashion expert, broke down why the bag’s going viral, and it goes beyond the Heated Rivalry fandom’s love for Hudson Williams, but into a community movement.
“It’s not just Hudson Williams. Drake also had the Canadian Tire logo in his music video ‘Slap The City.’ I think it’s more of a community signal marker. Fans will see Hudson Williams has this, they’re going to want to have that. Then, when they’re out in public, if they see someone else with the bag, they have that unspoken connection,” she told Now Toronto.
Compared to the $356 Province of Canada fleece jacket, this accessory is also way more affordable at $1.99.
“If you look at fandom, if you look at accessibility and how fashion can become a way for communities to connect, I think the accessibility of this, even though it’s sold out right now, is a great way for people to connect,” McInnes said.
Moment for Canada
McInnes calls this trendy item a cultural moment for Canada and its Canadian brand, Canadian Tire.
“I think what it does is kind of it creates more of an opportunity for Canadian Tire on how they could use this cultural moment and expand a little bit more within that fashion space,” she said. “We’ve seen them recently acquire the Hudson Space Stripes collection… but look at what they could do with the pattern on this bag. Like, are they going to make the next fleece?”
But this viral moment also puts Canadian Tire on the map, she says.
“A lot of people are like, ‘What is Canadian Tire exactly?’ and they think it’s so uniquely Canadian. And people in Canada, we know exactly what it is… So it’s creating a lot of a lot of interest into the brand itself and the heritage of Canadian Tire as well,” McInnes explained.
But the item is rooted in Canadian culture itself, she says.
“It’s very much Canadiana. The buffalo plaid. If there is one plaid that I would say Lumberjack Canada is the buffalo plaid, so the black and red plaid,” McInnes said. “So it is definitely a signifier of Canadian culture and Canadian fashion.
Especially seeing that the show has been filmed in Hamilton and other surrounding areas, this bag is on theme with the show.
