Though Target isn't expected to land in Canada until early 2013, the brand has already announced a major partnership with Montreal Fashion Week (which runs from September 4 to 7).

The company is teaming up with Québec style icon Mitsou Gélinas to produce multimedia content that will appear around SensationMode's show space. Known for its avant-garde marketing campaigns, the goal is to give consumers an idea of what Target stores will be like in "la belle province."

The partnership is, of course, Target's first foray into the French-Canadian fashion market.

"Just like Montréal, Target is all about style and design. Partnering with Montréal Fashion Week and having Mitsou Gélinas as our Fashion Ambassador for the occasion is our way of introducing the Target brand to our Québec guests," says John Morioka, Senior Vice-President, Merchandising, Target Canada. "True to our brand promise of Expect More. Pay Less., Target is committed to making affordable design accessible to all of our Canadian guests when we begin opening our doors in 2013."

Target plans to open 125 to 135 stores in Canada beginning in 2013. The first branch in Québec will open its doors in the fall of that year.

RELATED: Major U.S. Retailers Coming To Canada

Loading Slideshow

• Bloomingdale's

  The iconic American upscale retailer is in talks with Hudson's Bay Company to become a "store within a store" at HBC locations in Canada. The move is seen as an attempt by The Bay to fight off the possible arrival of Nordstrom's (see next slide).

• Nordstrom

  One of the most prominent competitors to Bloomingdale's, Nordstrom announced in September, 2012, that it plans to open locations in Cadillac Fairview-owned malls in Calgary, Ottawa and Vancouver. The stores will open in former Sears locations.

• Marshalls

  Discount retailer Marshalls entered the Canadian market in March, 2011, and recently announced an expansion of six new stores in Ontario. At least a dozen of its 750 stores are now located in Canada.

• Lowe's

  The home improvement retailer began moving into the Canadian market in 2007, with a store in Hamilton, Ontario. It has since expanded to 31 locations in Ontario and Alberta.

• J. Crew

  Ritzy fashion chain J. Crew opened its first Canadian location in the summer of 2011, and immediately ran into public anger about the U.S.-Canada price gap. Shoppers complained that J. Crew's Canadian prices were about 15 per cent higher than in the U.S.

• Target

  The arrival of Target to Canada in 2013 is easily the most hotly-anticipated retail arrival since Walmart came north of the border in 1994. The discount retailer is planning more than 100 stores across the country, having taken over a significant number of Zellers locations. But the store is currently engaged in a labour dispute, as it tries to keep former Zellers employees from unionizing in the new stores.