Wal-Mart will expand in Canada, paying $340M for 13 Target stores and a distribution facility

Wal-Mart, already Canada's biggest retailer, wasted little time in cementing that title after its rival, Target, retreated back to the U.S. with some haste.

The company is buying 13 former Target stores and one distribution center and said it will hire 3,400 new employees. It is spending $290 million to buy and renovate the stores and said that will created 1,500 construction jobs.

Target closed the last of its 133 Canadian stores in April after a rough two-year venture into the country and laid off more than17,000 people.

A number of retailers have struggled in Canada. Big Lots Inc. and Best Buy Co. have both closed stores in Canada. Sony Corp. is closing all of its 14 stores.