TORONTO, Feb. 12 /CNW/ - Today, Canadian Tire launched a unique series of limited edition Canadian Tire 'Money' coins that celebrate family moments. Proudly manufactured by the Royal Canadian Mint, a different coin will be available each week between February 12 and March 4, 2010, to customers who spend $25 or more at a Canadian Tire store. The coins, like Canadian Tire 'Money' bills are redeemable for merchandise at Canadian Tire stores and have no expiry date.

"Canadian Tire has been part of family life in Canada since 1922 and our customers count on us to meet their everyday winter needs," said Mike Arnett, president, Canadian Tire Retail. "Whether customers are buying winter gear like skates, shovels or sleds, we're happy to offer a loyalty program that continues to reward customers in new ways."

The special series of coins each showcase a family moment and the first coin, which depicts a shinny hockey game is available in-store from February 12 to February 18, 2010. The second coin is available between February 19 and February 25 and marks another favourite Canadian family pastime, tobogganing. The final coin in the series will be available beginning February 26 and shows a youngster learning to skate.

Canadians are encouraged to participate in the '100 Golden Opportunities Contest,' which runs from February 12 until March 11, 2010. Customers that submit a photo of their favourite family outdoor moment to http://canadiantire.promo.eprize.com/goldenopportunitiescontest/?affiliate_id=enbanner and are selected for the grand prize, could find that their winning photo is the inspiration for an upcoming Canadian Tire 'Money' coin. There are also 99 secondary prizes of the three golden coin sets available to win.

"The Royal Canadian Mint takes great pride in producing coins and medallions that honour Canadian heritage and traditions and we are delighted to have manufactured these exciting additions to Canadian Tire's loyalty program," said Ian E. Bennett, president and CEO of the Royal Canadian Mint. "Producing new trade dollars for a company that is synonymous with Canadian identity is a unique opportunity for the Mint to showcase the extensive expertise which extends to the manufacture of medals, tokens, and medallions."

The coin series follows the successful launch in December of Canadian Tire's first Canadian Tire 'Money' coin and confirmation that work is underway to evolve the iconic program to provide customers with better rewards. "Customers have told us that they value a loyalty program that is simple to understand and redeem; accessible to everyone; and, is tailored to offer promotions and reward to individual customers. We think we can continue to build on the program's heritage to deliver all of those things," continued Arnett.

Canadian Tire Corporation, Limited (TSX: CTC.a, CTC) is comprised of five business units: Canadian Tire Retail, one of Canada's most-shopped general merchandise retailers with 476 stores; PartSource, an automotive parts specialty chain with 87 stores; Canadian Tire Petroleum, one of the country's largest and most productive independent retailers of gasoline, operating 273 gas bars, 268 convenience stores and kiosks, and 73 car washes; Mark's Work Wearhouse, one of the country's leading apparel retailers operating 374 stores in Canada; and Canadian Tire Financial Services that has issued over five million Canadian Tire MasterCard credit cards and markets related financial products and services for retail and petroleum customers. More than 57,000 Canadians work across Canadian Tire's organization from coast-to-coast in the enterprise's retail, financial services, and petroleum businesses.