To support more inclusive shopping experiences, Walmart Canada introduced dedicated sensory-friendly shopping hours across Canada. “Approximately 33% of people experience sensory sensitivity or overload, with more than 25 diagnoses or differences contributing to it,” reports Sensory Friendly Solutions, “This means visual and auditory stimuli can be too intense to process, which can cause discomfort or frustration for customers as they shop.”

Over 400 Walmart stores across Canada are now offering sensory-friendly hours where possible and during these designated times, the stores provide a calmer atmosphere with minimal sounds, no music or radio ads, and announcements and paging will be paused except in emergencies. Visually, only static, low-sensory images will be used on TV walls.