American tariffs on Canadian goods have inspired consumers to rethink how they shop. To aid this effort, The Globe and Mail has created a directory of domestic brands to replace our biggest American imports. Use the menu to filter by the type of product you’re looking for, and open individual items for more information on the brand’s offerings and how to shop for them.
To assemble our directory, we started with Statistics Canada data on the largest import categories and cross-referenced it with the federal government’s list of tariffed U.S. goods. We also asked for reader feedback and picks from our contributors. This is an incomplete, but expanding, list we plan to update over time. Only brands bearing the “Globe Recommends” seal were vetted by our contributors.
Globe Recommends and Reader Picks
With shoppers looking for ways to keep more of their money at home, The Globe asked its trusted lifestyle contributors to recommend Canadian brands from cookware to cosmetics. Those items bear our Globe Recommends seal throughout the directory.
In their search, they learned 100-per-cent Canadian buys, while possible, are tough to find. While some brands can source solely from within the country, some materials are not readily available. Vineyards can guarantee a 100-per-cent Canadian product. It is harder for a clothing company to source wool or linen at a price and capacity they require.
After much discussion, our contributors finalized their recommendations, focusing on brands with head offices based in Canada. Their selections also focus on goods that are designed and manufactured here at home.
Since launching this guide, we have also received hundreds of recommendations from Globe readers. Our team reviewed these submissions to determine if they met our criteria, as outlined above, for Canadian brands. We then selected more than a hundred to be added to our guide, giving preference to those that are available across the country. These items bear our Reader Picks seal.
What are your favourite Canadian-made products?
On March 4, President Donald Trump launched a trade war with 25-per-cent tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods, and a 10-per-cent tariff on energy and critical minerals, leading many Canadian consumers to ‘Buy Canadian’ as much as possible. While there has been a partial reprieve on tariffs until April 2, The Globe has put together a list of Canadian alternatives to some of the most-imported products from the U.S., but we know there are many more.
Please fill out the form below or e-mail us at audience@globeandmail.com to share your picks for domestic products and businesses to support.
About our import values
The four-digit customs classification code displayed in the product profiles follow the Harmonized System, an international standard used to classify traded products. While we’ve tried to match the products on our list with the most relevant import classifications, the two do not always perfectly align. Therefore, the dollar figures should only be treated as a reference point when researching a product and its importance to Canada’s overall trade.
In some cases, a product category may span multiple trade classifications. In those cases, we may have selected a single product code to represent the group (i.e. using the product code for lettuce and chicory as a benchmark for “produce,” since those leafy greens are the largest import with the category as a whole.)
In other cases, our product category may be narrower than the trade classification. In these instances, the import value may include not only the selected product but also other items that fall under the same broader classification.
Credits
- Contributors: Dominique Gené, Rosemary Counter, Matthew Hague, Cathy Miyagi, Truc Nguyen, Julie Van Rosendaal, Christopher Waters and Ingrie Williams
- Editing: Sarah Bugden and Belinda Lloyd
- Photo editing: Taehoon Kim, Sarah Palmer, Janice Pinto and Clare Vander Meersch
- Illustrations: Nada Hayek
- Art direction: Ming Wong
- Data research: Chen Wang
- Interactive design and development: Jeremy Agius