Made in Canada brands: A full list of Canadian brands to shop at the grocery store as Trump’s tariffs initiate ‘trade war’

U.S. President Donald Trump implemented a 25 per cent tariff on Canadian goods and a 10 per cent tariff on energy imports following weeks of threats and negotiations. On Tuesday morning, Trump imposed tariffs on both Canada and Mexico, initiating what Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau dubbed “a trade war.”

What is Canada doing about tariffs?

Trudeau met Trump’s tariffs by enacting a retaliatory 25 per cent duty against $30 billion worth of American goods, with another $125 billion prepared to be levied in three weeks if the situation persists.

In a press conference, Trudeau didn’t mince words about Trump’s decision. “Now it’s not in my habit to agree with the Wall Street Journal, but Donald, they point out that even though you’re a very smart guy, this is a very dumb thing to do,” Trudeau said.

Click here to jump right to our list of Canadian grocery brands

How do tariffs work? How does buying Canadian products help Canadians?

Trump’s tariffs require companies importing products from Canada to pay a 25 per cent fee to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which then goes to the General Fund of the United States. Once importing companies pay the 25 per cent or 10 per cent tariff, they will likely adjust their retail prices to recoup the funds, making Canadian products more expensive for Americans.

In order to maintain sales, Canadian manufacturers could potentially lower their sale prices to entice American importers and offset the impact of the tariff the American company will have to pay.

Similarly, products imported from the U.S. into Canada will require Canadian importers to pay Trudeau’s retaliatory 25 per cent tariff, which could push companies to raise their prices on imported goods.

Essentially, tariffs mean that both Canadians and Americans would be paying more on imported products, which could influence consumers’ buying decisions, or impact importing and exporting.

By shopping Canadian products and brands, consumers in Canada would be exempt from potential tariffs, which means potentially saving money. Plus, there would be the added benefit of supporting Canadian manufacturers who may be impacted by the U.S. import tariffs

Trump’s tariffs and statements about Canada as the “51st state” have drawn the ire of many Canadians. A whopping 98 per cent of more than 3,300 Yahoo Canada readers who voted in a recent poll said that they want to buy Canadian products whenever possible, while two per cent said the issue didn’t concern them.

“I fully intend to buy Canadian and leave American products on the shelves. Most people I know, as well as my family members, are all insisting that they will continue to restrict their purchases to Canadian products even if Trump does not impose tariffs,” a Yahoo Canada reader said earlier this year via e-mail. “The threat of the punitive tariffs is enough. I will never buy American.”

“One option to push back on our American bullies is when we can’t find a Canadian alternative, to buy Mexican in solidarity with our true allies — especially when it comes to our groceries,” said another. “Failing that, [we can] buy anything other than American – we have lots of choices.”

“I was always conscientious about Canadian products but now I’m going to be laser-focused on it especially at the grocery store,” a Yahoo Canada reader said.

How to tell if a product is made in Canada at the grocery store

Although tariffs have been paused, some grocery stores have opted to label Canadian made products with a Canadian flag next to its price tag to help conscious shoppers. Here are some other ways to tell if a product is made in Canada:

Look for a “Product of Canada” label

This label means that approximately 98 per cent of ingredients, processing and labour used to produce the product areCanadian. According to the Government of Canada, products that claim to be “Canadian” are considered the same as “Product of Canada.”

Are you thinking of buying Canadian-made products? We want to hear from you. Contact us at yahoo.canada.lifestyle.editors@yahooinc.com and you could be featured in an upcoming Yahoo Canada article.

Check for “Made in Canada” labels

When products are labelled as “Made in Canada” it means that a majority of the product’s last substantial transformation occurred in Canada. A substantial transformation of a product would include combining ingredients to create a new product. For example, ingredients like eggs, sugar and butter undergo a substantial transformation to produce cookies.

A product can also have a “Made in Canada” label if a majority (at least 51 per cent) of the costs incurred in manufacturing or producing the goods were incurred in Canada even if some ingredients are from other countries.

“Made in Canada” and qualifier labels

Some packages may include qualifiers to ensure that the consumer knows some ingredients were imported from other countries.

Examples of qualifiers can include:

• Distilled in Canada

• Refined in Canada

• Packaged in Canada

• Processed in Canada

Look for 100% claims

All ingredients, processing and labour for the product (and all of its components) are from Canada.

If you’re someone choosing to shop consciously given the tariffs, we’ve gathered a helpful list of Canadian brands and those manufactured in Canada to help you on your next grocery shop.

Canadian-made grocery store items:

Dairy (milk, cheese, yogurt, butter etc.)

Instead of brands like Kraft and Land o’ Lakes, you may want to try:

• ADL

• Agropur

• Arla’s Foods

• Black Diamond

• Blakwell Dairy

• Bothwell Cheese

• Chapman’s

• Cheez Whiz (manufactured in Canada)

• Daiya

• Eagle Brand

• Earth’s Own

• D. Dutchmen Farms

• La Fromagerie Kapuskoise

• Gay Lea

• Grass Root Dairies

• Halo Top

• Hewitt’s

• Island Farms

• Laiterie de Caoticook

• Lactancia

• Kawartha Dairy

• Keenan Farms

• Kraft Singles (manufactured in Canada)

• Miller’s Dairy

• Natrel

• Philadelphia Cream Cheese (manufactured in Canada)

• Saputo

• Shaw Ice Cream

• Sheldon Creek Dairy

• Silani Cheese

• Slate River Dairy

• Skotidakis

• St. Albert Cheese Factory

• Tre Stelle

• Triple “A” Cheese

• Thunder Oak Cheese Farm

• Upper Canada Creamery

• Gunn’s Hill Artisan Cheese

• Dainty

Baking & honey

Instead of brands like Pillsbury and Domino, you may want to try:

• Billy Bee Honey

• Club House

• Doyon Honey

• E.D. Smith Jam

• Ferrero

• Five Roses Flour

• No Name

• Redpath Sugar

• Robin Hood Flour

• Shiriff

• Dr. Oetker

Wine, beer & spirits

Instead of brands like Coors or Makers Mark, you may want to try:

• 13th Street

• Canadian Club

• Collective Arts

• Creemore Springs

• Crown Royal

• Dillon’s

• Forty Creek

• Georgian Bay

• Labatt Blue

• Molson Canadian

• Moosehead

• Redstone

• Tawse

Bread, grains and cereals:

Instead of brands like Kellogg’s, Nature’s Own and Dave’s Killer Bread, you may want to try:

• Arva Flour Mills

• Casa Mendoza

• Country Harvest

• D’Italiano

• Dempsters (manufactured in Canada)

• Gadoua

• Goh Goh Cereal

• Grandma Emily

• Holy Crap Cereal

• K2 Milling

• La Milanaise

• Little Northern Bakehouse

• NorQuin

• Nature’s Path

• O’Doughs

• One Degree Organics

• Rogers

• Sunny Boy Foods

• Sunny Crunch Foods

• Stone Mill Bakehouse

• Yumi Organics

• Wonder (manufactured in Canada)

Note: Wonder manufactures products in Canada, but is not a Canadian company.

Meats & poultry

Instead of brands like Oscar Meyer, Hormel or Tyson Foods, you may want to try:

• Direct Plus Food Group: Grimm’s Fine Foods, McSweeney’s, Country Prime Meats, Saporé Foods, and Audrey’s Patisserie

• Freybye

• Greenfield Nautural Meat Co.

• Harvest Meats

• Lou’s Kitchen

• Maple Leaf Foods

• Salumeria il Tagliere

• Sofina Foods: Janes, Lilydale, Mastro, San Daniele, Riserva, Cuddy, Vienna, Fletcher’s, Zamzam

• Tony’s Meats

Snack foods, cookies, chips & popcorn

Instead of brand’s like Nabisco, Lays or Doritos, you may want to try:

Condiments & seasoning

Instead of brands like Hidden Valley and Tobasco, you may want to try:

• Buster Rhino BBQ Sauce

• French’s Mustard

• Fire in the Kitchen

• Greetalia Foods

• GoBio! Organics

• Heartbeat Hot Sauce

• Kozlik’s Canadian Mustard

• Kraft Heinz Canada (manufactured in Canada)

• Little Creek (Salad Dressings)

• Lord’s Hot Sauce

• PEI Sea Salt Co.

• Peppermaster Hot Sauces

• Renées

• Silk Road Spices

• Spice of Life Selections

• The Ketchup Project

• Vancouver Sea Salt

• Windsor Salt

Coffee

Instead of brands like Starbucks or Folgers, you may want to try:

• Balzac’s Coffee Roasters

• Bean North Roasting

• Beaver Rock Roastery

• Coastal Coffee Company

• Fratello Coffee Roasters

• Grounded Coffee Company

• Jumping Bean Coffee

• Just Us Coffee

• Laughing Whale

• Midnight Sun Coffee Roasters

• Muskoka Roastery Coffee Co.

• Nabob

• Salt Spring Coffee

• Salt Spring Coffee

• Kintore Coffee Co.

• Van Houtte

Tea

Instead of brands like Lipton, you may want to try:

• 3 Teas

• Amoda Tea

• Auras Teas

• Blue Teapot

• Capital Tea

• ChaNoir

• Citizen Tea

• David’s Tea

• Distincly Tea

• Escarpment Gardens

• Four O’Clock Teas

• Just Tea

• Premium Tea

• Red Rose Tea

• Shanti Tea

• Tea Desire

• Tea Santa

• Tealchemy

• Tealish

• The Naked Leaf

• The Tea Haus

• Four O’Clock Teas

Drinks (soft drinks, juices)

Instead of brands like Coca Cola, PepsiCo or Tropicana, you may want to try:

• Allen’s

• Apple & Eve

• Clearly Canadian

• Fairly Fruit

• Graves

• Great Value

• Happy Parent

• Hydra+

• Kiju bilogique

• Naya Bottled Water

• Northland

• Oasis

• Old Orchard

• Old South

• PC Cola

• Rougemont

• Ruby Kist

• SunRype

• Switch

• The Pop Shoppe

• Walter Caesar

Note: Coca-Cola and PepsiCo have manufacturing facilities in Canada, but are not Canadian brands.

Frozen foods:

Instead of brands like Stouffer’s or DiGiorno, you may want to try:

Pet Food

Support Canadian pet food brands like:

• Arcana

• Canadian Naturals

• Nutram Pet Food

• Open Farm

• Orijen Cat Food

• Oven Baked Tradition

Toilet paper & paper products

Instead of brands like Charmin or Scott, you may want to try:

• Cascades

• Cashmere

• Purex

• Royale

Laundry detergent & dish soap

Instead of brands like Palmolive or Dawn, you may want to try:

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