A downtown Toronto store indicates it's Canadian-owned. Grassroots initiatives have popped up to help Canadian shoppers determine if products are locally made, as a trade war with the U.S.Andres Valenzuela/The Globe and Mail
With more and more Canadians looking to eat, drink, wear and ultimately buy Canadian as trade tensions with the U.S. intensify, innovators across the country have stepped up to help shoppers trace the origins of their products and answer the question: “Is this Canadian?”
A survey released last month by payment transfer provider Interac found that three in four Canadians see more value in spending on local and Canadian-made goods. And yet, 40 per cent said they struggle to identify product origins.
“You have labels that say prepared in Canada or manufactured in Canada, but it’s not always cut and dried, right,” said William Boytinck, co-founder of the Shop Canadian app.
His tool is among dozens of new apps, websites and grassroots initiatives that have cropped up to help shoppers locate Canadian products and navigate the country’s bewildering labelling rules. The projects’ different criteria for determining what’s truly Canadian demonstrate just how tough it is to get a straight answer.
The Globe and Mail's Buy Canadian shopping guide
The Shop Canadian app, for example, uses crowd-sourced data from thousands of contributors to rate a product as more or less Canadian, rather than delivering a yes-or-no answer. Users begin by scanning the barcode of an item, such as Kraft peanut butter.
“We’re gonna show the average rating from one to five maple leafs of what Canadians have rated it,” Mr. Boytinck said.
While Kraft is an American brand, he said it scores a four because many of the company’s products are made in Canada.
A sign is placed in front of the American whiskey section at a B.C. liquor store after U.S.-made products were removed from shelves in Vancouver, Feb. 2.ETHAN CAIRNS/The Canadian Press
Users can contribute their own ratings, share comments and offer additional information about the product. For Kraft, “I think we have over 200 comments,” Mr. Boytinck said. “Which is crazy.”
Buy Beaver, an app created by two Montreal entrepreneurs, includes a database of some three million products and lets shoppers learn whether an item is truly Canadian through crowd-sourced ratings as well as input provided directly by brands.
“We score based on where it’s made, where the ingredients are sourced, but, ultimately, who owns the brand,” said Alexandre Hamila, a software engineer and co-founder of the app.
If shoppers scan a product that’s not Canadian, the tool shows them a domestic alternative. It has been downloaded more than 100,000 times in less than five weeks, according to co-founder Christopher Dip.
Christopher Dip (left) and Alexandre Hamila, shown in a handout photo, created the Buy Beaver app, which has a database of around three million products and lets shoppers learn whether an item is truly Canadian through crowd-sourced ratings.The Canadian Press
Maple Scan uses artificial intelligence to scan product photos and tell users where they came from. It also lets shoppers know whether a product meets Canadian government criteria for “Product of Canada” (virtually all of the production happened here) or “Made in Canada” (the last substantial transformation of the product happened in the country).
The tool, created by recent University of Calgary graduate Alexander Ivanov, also provides a domestic alternative if the product isn’t Canadian.
“I’ve spoken to many Canadians across the country since its launch, and they unanimously have shared that this past month has permanently changed their buying behaviours, regardless of future potential changes to trading relations,” Mr. Ivanov said.
He proudly pointed out that, in addition to reaching the No. 5 spot on the app store in Canada, “the app was even trending on the app store in Mexico!”
O SCANada, the brainchild of retired Calgary resident Cathy Checora and her son, Ryan, also uses AI and live internet data. By scanning a barcode or inputting a text query, users will get a rundown of a product’s Canadian authenticity based on a handful of key metrics.
“Is it Canadian-owned? Are there Canadian employees? Canadian manufacturing locations? And where are the materials coming from,” Mr. Checora said. “We kind of took more of a nuanced approach to the ‘Is it Canadian?’ question. It’s a nuanced question that doesn’t necessarily have a straight yes or no answer.”
For those who don’t want to download yet another app on their phone, there are also browser plug-ins. Support Canadian can be added as an extension to Chrome, Firefox and Edge, directing users toward Canadian brands and businesses. It was designed by Aidan Haldane, a second-year University of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier student.
Or shoppers can check out the Made in CA website, created in 2018 in response to tariffs imposed by Donald Trump during his first term. It features a grocery guide divided into two categories: “Canadian-owned and made” and “Canadian-made but foreign-owned.”
Beyond tech, many grocers are doing their part to draw attention to Canadian offerings. Loblaw started identifying Canadian products in its stores with a maple leaf. Interac has partnered with the Canadian Federation of Independent Business to highlight local brands across the country, even distributing “Proudly Canadian Owned. Support Local” posters to all CFIB members.
And the Canadian innovators who’ve stepped up to take on the “Is this Canadian?” question are attracting attention beyond this country’s borders.
After being flooded with requests, Buy Beaver is expanding to provide a similar service for European products. The founders say a “Buy European” movement has started to take shape there in response to Mr. Trump’s global trade war.