Employee onboarding kits and new hire welcome merchandise in Canada
Willwerth Promotions builds branded welcome kits, ambassador packages and day-one merchandise for Canadian companies, sourced, kitted and shipped from our North York warehouse. The kit arrives before the employee does.
Four teams have a stake in the first box
In many Canadian companies, people operations owns the onboarding kit. Three other teams decide whether it runs well.
What is an employee onboarding kit?
An employee onboarding kit is a set of branded merchandise sent to a new hire at or before their start date.
Most combine one apparel piece, a drinkware item, a notebook and pen, and a welcome card, packed so the box feels prepared for that person.
Done well, it tells a new hire they were expected. A kit waiting at the desk on the first morning sets the tone for the whole tenure.
Price a standard welcome kit
of employees are more likely to stay with a company for at least three years after a great onboarding experience.
Source: SHRM and Glassdoor onboarding research
Talk through your onboarding planWhat the published research says about onboarding
Four published figures on onboarding, new-hire retention and productivity, each with its source.
Where onboarding kits usually go wrong
Three things go wrong again and again.
Onboarding kits new hires actually keep
Six new hire welcome kits from our catalogue, each decorated with your logo and shipped anywhere in Canada. Open any one for its contents.
Standard, premium and ambassador onboarding kits
Standard welcome kits are the core program: an apparel piece, drinkware, a notebook and pen, and a welcome card, built to a per-kit budget that scales with your hiring.
Premium onboarding packages add a leather portfolio, a premium pen set, custom packaging or a personal note for senior hires.
Ambassador kits are the executive tier: a custom rigid box, premium apparel, leather and wool pieces and personalization, for ambassador programs, executive recruits and key-hire moments where the kit is part of the offer.
Spec an ambassador kitHow much does an onboarding kit cost?
Ready-made welcome kits fall into four price tiers, quoted in Canadian dollars. Each card opens the full list of kits at that price.
Onboarding kits shipped to remote hires anywhere in Canada
We pack individually addressed kits at our North York warehouse and ship them to the new hire's home, in every province, before their first day.
For continuous hiring we hold standing inventory and ship on-demand rolling kits to remote hire addresses as HR sends each name, typically within 24 to 48 hours, with no batch minimum.
Set up rolling kit shipmentsWhat goes in an onboarding kit, by industry
The right kit depends on what a new hire will use and where. What works for a software company's developer hires is different from an insurance firm's advisor onboarding cohort. Budgets are typical per-kit ranges at 100 to 500 kits.
Take a Canadian company hiring 200 people a year at $90,000 fully loaded. Work Institute puts the cost of one voluntary departure at about a third of salary, roughly $30,000.
Lose 31 percent of those hires in six months, the BambooHR average, and attrition costs about $1.86M.
With structured onboarding, Brandon Hall Group's figures bring early losses closer to 11 percent. That is 40 fewer departures and about $1.2M kept.
A 200-kit program at a typical $120 a kit costs $24,000 a year. The kit does not produce that return alone. It is the visible part of a real onboarding plan.
Sources: SHRM and Glassdoor onboarding research, Brandon Hall Group benchmarks, Gallup State of the American Workplace, BambooHR turnover data, the Work Institute Retention Report and the ASI Canada 2026 impressions study.
return on a $24,000-a-year kit program when it sits inside a structured onboarding plan, in the worked example above.
Source: Worked example using BambooHR, Brandon Hall Group and Work Institute figures
Run the numbers for your teamHow an onboarding kit program works
Four stages, from the first brief to kits landing on desks across Canada.
What does a strong onboarding kit tell a new hire?
They were expected. A card with their name and items that fit the role feel prepared for one person.
The company invests in its people. The quality of the apparel, drinkware and box gets read in seconds.
They belong. Wearing the company hoodie that first weekend is an identity moment, and a quality branded fleece or jacket earns 9,000+ brand impressions over its lifetime (ASI 2026).
Packaging sets the frame. A mid-tier item in a considered custom box beats a premium item in a poly bag.
Design the unboxing
How many people do you onboard a year?
Pick the closest one. We come back with a welcome kit spec, the price per kit and how it ships across Canada.
Where onboarding sits in the rest of the program
Onboarding is the first moment in a longer program. Recognition, service awards and a company store usually follow, and these pages cover each one.
Frequently asked questions
What goes into a standard employee onboarding kit?
Most include a branded bag or box, one apparel item such as a hoodie or quarter-zip, a drinkware piece, a notebook, and a utility item like a tech accessory. Many add a welcome card or handwritten note. Contents follow your budget and brand standard.
When should an onboarding kit arrive?
Before the first day. We plan the ship date back from the start date so the kit is already on the desk when they arrive. On a rolling program the kit ships from held stock as soon as HR sends the name.
Can you ship onboarding kits to remote employees across Canada?
Yes. We ship direct to employees from our North York facility, to every province. For rolling new hires we hold standing inventory and ship individual kits on demand, so you never have to batch orders quarterly.
How do you handle sizing for apparel in an onboarding kit?
Every apparel program has a size-collection step. We pre-decorate a size curve from your historical headcount and hold undecorated reserve stock for unusual sizes. The size choice can also sit inside your HR system or company store.
How much does an employee onboarding kit cost?
Ready-made kits run from under $40 to $100 and up per kit. Custom programs at 100 to 500 kits typically land between $35 and $300 depending on industry and contents. Custom packaging, premium apparel and personalization move the price up.
What is the minimum order for an onboarding kit program?
Most programs start at 50 to 100 kits for the first build. Rolling programs typically hold 50 to 200 units at a time, replenished when stock drops below a 30-day supply.
Can you hold stock so kits are always ready?
Yes. Kit components stay at our North York warehouse under your account and each kit ships as a hire is confirmed, typically within 24 to 48 hours, with no batch minimum.
Can you build a premium ambassador kit as well as a standard welcome package?
Yes. Ambassador kits typically run $100 to $350 per kit and include premium apparel, a premium branded item, custom rigid-box packaging and often a personal touch. We can show the difference at two or three budget points.
Do you handle the packaging and the welcome card?
Yes. We work with custom rigid boxes, branded mailers and personalization sleeves, and the welcome card goes in with the new hire's name on it.
Are onboarding kits a taxable benefit in Canada?
Usually not for the basics. The CRA does not count small items of trivial value, such as T-shirts and mugs, toward its $500-a-year limit on non-cash gifts. Higher-value pieces are worth a quick check with your payroll team.
Ready to build an onboarding kit new hires remember?
Tell us how many people you hire, where in Canada they start and your budget per welcome kit. We will come back with a kit spec, a price per kit and a ship plan.