The Canada-U.S. trade fight is giving new momentum to the ‘Buy Canadian’ movement. Patriotism is fueling consumer choices.
What if the trade war gave Canadians an unexpected opportunity: discovering just how much we already make, grow and build right here at home?
For decades, American brands have been a familiar part of everyday Canadian shopping. They’re on our grocery shelves, in our homes and in our online shopping carts.
But before automatically reaching for the brand we’ve always bought, there’s another question worth asking: Are there Canadian alternatives?
You might be surprised by how often the answer is yes.
It Is Hard Giving Up Everything American
Let’s be realistic. Canada and the United States are deeply connected trading partners, and there will be plenty of products for which there simply isn’t a Canadian alternative.
This isn’t about throwing everything American out of your shopping cart.
It’s about making Canadian options part of the decision.
And that’s getting easier because a growing number of Canadian resources are helping shoppers figure out who actually owns a brand, where products are made and where their money ultimately goes.
1. Tide → ATTITUDE
When you’re shopping for laundry and household products, Tide is one of the familiar names. But Canadian shoppers have another option in ATTITUDE’s Canadian laundry collection.
ATTITUDE is a Canadian company offering laundry, dishwashing, cleaning, personal-care and family products. You can also find a wide range of its products through Well.ca’s Canadian shop.
2. Ben & Jerry’s → Chapman’s
Ice cream is an easy place to experiment with a Canadian alternative.
Chapman’s Canadian Collection gives shoppers a selection from one of Canada’s best-known ice cream companies.
Chapman’s also highlights products made with 100% Canadian dairy, connecting an everyday grocery purchase with Canadian dairy farmers.
3. Colgate → Green Beaver
Toothpaste is one of those products most people buy without thinking much about where it comes from.
But Canadian companies such as Green Beaver have built trusted personal-care lines that include natural toothpastes, deodorants, and skin care designed specifically for northern climates.
The lesson isn’t that one brand is automatically better. It’s that the familiar multinational isn’t necessarily your only choice.
4. Nike & Patagonia → Arc’teryx & Canadian Activewear
Nike and Patagonia are global powerhouses, but Canada has developed a world-renowned collection of activewear, outerwear, and outdoor apparel built for extreme weather.
For high-performance outdoor gear engineered in North Vancouver, BC, Arc’teryx sets the global standard for severe weather protection. If you are looking to discover even more independent activewear brands, Shoppa’s Canadian apparel collection helps you explore homegrown clothing companies without searching for each one individually.
5. Coca-Cola & Starbucks → Kicking Horse & Local Beverages
Canada has no shortage of beverage options, from artisan roasters to independent soft drink and sparkler producers.
Instead of hitting the Starbucks drive-thru, try whole-bean roasts from Kicking Horse Coffee, roasted high in the Rocky Mountains in Invermere, BC. For everyday drinks and soft drink alternatives, browsing Canadian food and drink marketplaces can introduce you to local brands you may never notice on a conventional grocery run.
6. Kleenex → Cascades & Kruger
Paper products are another category worth investigating.
Companies such as Cascades and Kruger have deep Canadian roots and operate across Canada’s paper and tissue industries.
7. Amazon → Start Somewhere Canadian
This one isn’t really about finding a single “Canadian Amazon.” It’s about changing where you start your search.
For Canadian-owned businesses and independent brands, Shoppa offers a fantastic discovery portal. For health, beauty, wellness, household and family products, Well.ca’s Canadian shop brings together iconic domestic brands like Toronto’s clinical skincare pioneer The Ordinary and Alberta’s Rocky Mountain Soap Co.
8. Walmart → Canadian Retailers
Replacing Walmart isn’t the goal. Walmart sells too many different categories for there to be a simple Canadian equivalent.
Instead, think category by category.
Need something for the house, garage, garden, car or cottage? Canadian Tire’s Shop Canadian collection currently features more than a thousand products, with filters identifying products made in Canada. Looking for quality clothing or home decor? Quebec-founded Maison Simons offers an incredible domestic retail alternative.
9. Yeti & Casper → Chilly Moose & Endy
When it comes to big-ticket lifestyle and home items, American labels like Yeti or Casper don’t hold a monopoly on quality.
Heading out to the cottage or campsite? Schomberg, Ontario’s Chilly Moose builds heavy-duty rotomoulded coolers designed for Canadian road trips. Looking for a better night’s sleep? Skip Casper for Endy, whose temperature-regulating mattresses are engineered and manufactured directly in Canada.
10. Your Usual American Brand → Something You Haven’t Discovered Yet
This may be the most important alternative of all.
Canada has thousands of businesses producing food, clothing, household goods, personal-care products, outdoor equipment and other everyday items.
The problem isn’t necessarily a lack of Canadian products. Sometimes it’s simply that we don’t know they’re there.
Meet Your New Canadian Shopping Toolkit
The good news is that you don’t have to become an expert in corporate ownership and supply chains just to make better shopping decisions.
The CANADA List is a particularly interesting place to start. It researches companies and products and assigns a CANADA Score based on factors including ownership, manufacturing, sourcing and Canadian jobs and economic presence. The site’s scoring system ranges from 1 to 10 and is designed to look beyond simple branding or a maple leaf on the package. You can see how the CANADA Score is calculated here. (See our article with the inventor of The Canada List here)
For everyday shopping, Canadian Tire’s Shop Canadian collection makes it possible to browse Canadian products across categories including home, automotive, outdoor living, sports and tools.
For health, beauty, wellness, baby and household products, Well.ca’s Canadian shop brings together products from Canadian brands such as ATTITUDE, Blume, Organika, Good Protein and others.
For groceries, Voilà’s Canadian selection offers another way to find Canadian products while doing your regular grocery shop.
And if you want to discover smaller Canadian-owned businesses, Shoppa provides another marketplace for Canadian brands.
You Can Even Scan Your Shopping Cart
Want to know more while you’re standing in the store?
Apps are making that easier too. Maple Scan lets shoppers scan or photograph products and learn about their Canadian connections, ownership and potential Canadian alternatives. Its current database covers more than 32,000 products and can filter results by country or province.
Another option is Buy Canadian, which focuses on scanning grocery products to provide information about country of origin, ingredients, brands and other product details.
There are tons of these apps on the market available to Canadians to help you make an informed decision. Read more in our full article here.
Don’t Just Look for a Maple Leaf
There’s an important distinction here: “Canadian” doesn’t always mean the same thing.
A company can be Canadian-owned while manufacturing products elsewhere. A product can be made in Canada while using imported materials or ingredients. And a maple leaf on packaging isn’t necessarily proof that the entire product is Canadian.
That’s why resources such as The CANADA List can be useful. They encourage shoppers to look beyond the front of the package and understand the bigger picture.
The Goal Is Choice
Canada’s relationship with the United States isn’t going to disappear. American products will continue to be part of Canadian life, and Canadians will continue to buy products from around the world.
But perhaps one positive thing to come out of this difficult trade environment is that we’re looking a little closer at what we have at home.
So next time you reach for a familiar American brand, take a moment.
Ask yourself: Is there a Canadian alternative?
Maybe there is. Maybe there isn’t.
But the next time you look, you might discover a Canadian company, a Canadian product or a Canadian business you never knew existed.
Just getting better at discovering what Canada has to offer.
I want to try the Topo shoes. Great article