Buy Canadian

For context, I'm going to need to buy cereal at some point (even though I prefer oats), but this applies to anything, really.

So many of these "buy Canadian" websites will list companies like Post and Kellogg's, because they have manufacturing here.

But there are also Canadian-owned companies. Some "have manufacturing in Canada or the US", and there's no guarantee that the ingredients used are even from Canada.

So... when there are no Canadian companies who make products in Canada, which alternative gives the most impact (i.e. keeps more money within Canada)?

Is it better to buy products that are made in Canada, even if the company is American owned.

Or should priority be on Canadian companies, regardless of where products are made?*

*I'm totally fine supporting products made outside of the country, if I have to. But American made is at the bottom of my list.

For my wife and I, I could likely make our own mix of muesli cereal from Canadian and NotAmerican ingredients. But our grandkids are used to regular cereal brands, so we need to accommodate.

What have you guys been doing?

I ran across this post on the CBC that names a few apps to help people find Canadian products: https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/buying-canadian-shopping-apps-barcode-scanners-1.7463039

• Shop Canadian
• Buy Beaver
• O SCANada
• Maple Scan

I'm curious if anyone has tried any of these and how useful (or not!) you've found them.

"With so much interest in buying small Canadian companies, I figured I would share her products as an alternative. Your support would change her life. All products have a maple leaf!"

The response was immediate and enormous, she says, with order requests through her website increasing by almost 4,000 per cent, according to Williams.

I haven't seen this one mentioned recently, but the brand was recommended to me in years prior. How Canadian are they? (ingredients, manufacturing, packaging etc.)

I found this about ownership: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/biosteel-energy-athletes-hockey-crosby-dan-company-1.7370856

This Windsor entrepreneur bought the bankrupt BioSteel brand last year

I own another brand called Canadian Protein and this is right in our wheelhouse, and I've been owning and operating that brand for years, and this brand is essentially no different.

As for Biosteel

[...] it's a big brand and has a big footprint still, especially in Canada. We're expanding into the states. It was large in the states, but it wasn't doing very well. We're bringing it back to the states through proper channels where it needs to be profitable in, and everything is going to be made in-house in Windsor, and ship right through the border in Detroit.

I also found this other Bcorp while looking for sources, but I'm not familiar with them: https://simplyprotein.ca/

In 1995, the business was bought by American burger chain Wendy's, and in 2014 became part of Restaurant Brands International.

This is where the idea of Tim's being Brazilian comes from. Restaurant Brands International's largest shareholder was the Brazilian investment firm 3G Capital.

In 2014, at the time of the takeover, 3G held 47 per cent of the voting power in Restaurant Brands International, but that has slowly decreased over time to 26 per cent as of Dec. 31, 2024.

Today, Canadian banks such as Toronto Dominion, Bank of Montreal, National Bank and Royal Bank, as well as Canadian institutional investors such as the CPP Investment Board, cumulatively hold a stake comparable to 3G, according to Michael Oliveira, the director of communications for Tim Hortons.

I ordered replacement brush heads for my electric toothbrush and they've been solid, as far as I can tell until I go to the dentist.

Their manual brushes with replaceable heads also look quite decent though I haven't tried them.

Also they're pretty cheap and have free shipping across Canada for all orders! My order took maybe 2 weeks? I didn't keep track, tbh. But they're in Quebec and I'm in BC, so it taking a while is acceptable.

I have no affiliation with the brand, learned from them from a comment on reddit and figured I should post about them here.

What Canadian brands are available for sticky fabric bandages like the USA-owned Band-Aid brand?

Screenshot linked from https://hci.social/@tod/114163018363881908

I keep seeing the Bernardin brand online and in stores.

Despite marketing themselves as "Canada’s trusted leader in mason jars... for over 100 years.", I was surprised to see that they are actually made in the states.

Are there any canning jars still made in Canada?

Sharing this delicious jam from family-run Moss Berry Farm in Stratford, Ontario.

Fruit is grown by their farm and other nearby farms, and all products are made in Canada. Picked up these two excellent jams today, but the chutneys (mango, apple tamarind) are also worth your time!

Specifically looking for filing cabinets. Online or within the GTA?

I have a bunch of domains on NameCheap but would like to move them to a non American company, preferably Canadian but just not American is good enough honestly.

What are you guys using?

Visa and Mastercard are American companies, and they essentially tax everybody by taking a percentage of purchase prices for themselves. Not exactly a small percentage either, 1.2% to 2.65%. Ever wonder why so many merchants say they don't accept American Express? That's because they charge quite a bit more to merchantes, 50% more than Visa or Mastercard. Anyway, we're letting American companies tax us and we love them because we get rewards when we use cards. But it's just a shell game because we pay more up front because businesses need to charge more to make up for payment processing charges. They get to sit in the middle and rake in the money.

Now the alternative in Canada is Interac. Interac charges a set amount per transcation. How much? 2 to 5.5 cents. Unless you're going through Apple or Google Pay, and then it's a percentage again.

Interac is also Canadian.

Want to stick it to Trump? Stop using credit cards (and Google Pay or Apple Pay) and switch to Interac. Want to make Canada better? Stop using credit cards and switch to Interac. Is it going to be inconvenient? Yes. Online shopping will be much harder but I have seen online Interac payments before and we can ask our favourite Canadian merchants to accept Interac online.

Please support Chapman's between Covid and Tariffs. These guys have been doing the right thing.

Chapman’s, the country's only national, Canadian-owned ice cream brand, says consumers will not be paying higher prices for ice cream this season, even though the trade war with the U.S. will increase their operating costs. The company says it will need to move on from U.S. suppliers, some of whom they’ve had decades-long relationships with, and find new international contracts for various materials for their ice cream.