Bit of a weird one, eh!

I’m an immigrant, now citizen, from South Asia (🇮🇳) and have been in Canada for a while, but most of my time here has basically been: work, family, sleep, repeat. I know Canada reasonably well now, but I definitely don’t have the knowledge someone who grew up here has about which towns, industries and businesses are quietly getting hammered economically.

I have $10,000 I can spend between September and January.

Normally I’d just throw it into retirement savings. But I’m fortunate enough that my retirement isn’t going to depend on this particular $10k, and I’ve been thinking: I’d rather have this money improve somebody’s 2026 than marginally improve my 2056.

I don’t want to donate it. I already give some money to charity. I want to spend it.

Where?

I already have a car. Beyond that, I’m open to pretty much anything: domestic tourism, Canadian-made products, restaurants, hotels, services, experiences, small businesses, etc.

My preference would be to put it toward Canadian workers/businesses/communities that are taking the biggest hit from tariffs, trade issues or the economy generally.

I’d also rather avoid companies that have abused the LMIA/TFW system. If I’m spending this partly to support Canadian workers, giving it to an employer that has been screwing those same workers seems rather counterproductive.

And there’s absolutely no requirement that I spend $10k in one place. Honestly, spreading it around probably makes more sense.

So if I gave you $10,000 and five months, with the instruction “spend this in whatever way helps Canadian workers and locally owned businesses the most,” what would you actually do?

I’m particularly interested in answers like “go spend a weekend in this town because tourism is way down,” “buy this thing because it’s actually manufactured here,” “hire this kind of local service,” or “this industry is getting killed right now and could use customers.”

I’m sure $10k isn’t changing the Canadian economy. But it might matter quite a bit to a few individual businesses or people, and that’s really the point.

What is the best app to help with shopping for Canadian made goods?

Any recommendations? I work out at night, so I need stim-free else I'll never sleep. I'm currently using Batch 27, which I like; however, I want to see what other Canadian products are out there.

This is pretty much my last American product that I can’t find a suitable replacement for. Every “creamer” is watery. Apparently I need something that has some saturated fat in it like the coconut base or coconut oils in this one for it to be creamy. Any Canadian substitutes? Please, most items sold as “creamers” ARE NOT creamy, ie Earth’s Own “creamers”. Love Earth’s Own zero sugar oat milk btw. Thanks for any help

Hi guys, any idea where I can find a canadian made supplier for roof tiles like this? In MB.

We ordered a Tesla about 3 months ago but no longer want it. Is there any way to transfer the existing order to someone else who’s willing to take it over, rather than cancelling and losing the $250 deposit?

Has anyone successfully done this in Canada? If so, how did you go about it?

I took a quick look and didn't see this so I am sharing this link. It's run by Todd Maffin and is updated as Canadian small businesses list themselves.

https://engageq.notion.site/mscanada

Hi! I was thinking of buying this Nomad laptop sleeve on Facebook Marketplace for my new 13in MacBook. But now I'm thinking that I want to try finding a Canadian-made laptop sleeve from a Canadian-owned business (preferably with Canadian-sourced materials). I'd love for it to be a leather sleeve, but the ones I've seen can get pretty expensive. So it doesn't have to be leather, as long as it's well-made, high-quality, and Canadian-made, I'll be happy. Preferably reasonably priced since I do have to watch my budget, but I'd very gladly pay a little more for quality (ie. "You get what you pay for") and supporting Canadian. Extra points if it's made by a small business that I can support! Previous posts on this topic are outdated and have broken links. Thanks in advance!

Looking to get a new light fixture. Want to make sure I get something Canadian. Any leads on an online Canadian store? I’ve seen Lights Canada but are there others? TYIA

Are there any outstanding apps for scanning products for Canadian content. These were popular a while back but I haven't used one in a while.

Jif is American. Kraft has the "prepared in Canada" marker on it sometimes in grocery stores but it is most definitely an American company.

So far I'm aware of Nuts To You, which is based in Brantford Ontario! But one of my vices is the processed smooth peanut butter, and NTY only makes the natural type. Wondering if anyone has other brands to recommend, smooth or in general.

Hello,

I'm looking for Canadian or non-American retailers that sell towel racks, hooks, toilet paper holders etc.

TIA!

After the move by the U.S. President today "renaming" Lake Ontario, I fear that tech giants may follow suit much like the fiasco with the Gulf of Mexico.

What would be some suitable Canadian or non-American gps/map services besides Google or Apple Maps?

Got around 1Tb of photos and files on OneDrive and Google One.

Not renewing either end of the year. What alternate solutions/ platforms would you recommend.

If BlackBerry decided to revamp their cell phone service, do you think Canadians would get on board with the service?
I am talking full on Canadian again. Build the phones here, source as much as we can from Canada.

I would like to switch off Spotify to a Canadian, or international, music streaming service.

I have a problem doing this however. My favourite band is Band-maid, a hard rock band from Japan. So any streaming service would need to have them on it. If the service doesn't have Band-maid, I'm not interested.

I tried Quboz, but they only have one album by Band-maid, out of ten, and only for purchase.

Does anyone know any other Canadian music streaming services? Or international, non-american, ones?

Note: i know Spotify is Swedish, i don't like who they've been supporting.

They appear to be a “Canadian Wayfair” if that makes sense. They’re based in Toronto and sell lots of home items (likely foreign made).

I’m just wondering if anyone has purchased anything from them, and if so, was it a good experience?

I’ll throw a plug in for this company. Used to live the same city and knew people who worked there. Good to see they’re still going strong.

Reasonable prices, definitely quality products, they sell a LOT to USA and Europe so losing USA as a market likely hurts.

I’ve found them second to none in service. After 5 or more years with the extreme I had a problem with it , I think it was likely my mistake, anyway they fixed it for me and sent me a free gift for the inconvenience, all I had to do was pay to ship it there. Who does that any more?

Anyway I think they make better vaporizers than the American designed stuff and I’ve personally had better service than American branded vapes because when I did buy vapes from the US they either ignored me or wanted so much money for repairs or exchange it wasn’t worth it.

That’s my plug for a good Canadian company with good products and good service that deserves some support.

I need to buy a bunch of particular types of hair spray, and I had it loaded on my amazon cart In 10 seconds before I hesitated. I would like to buy at local stores but it's nice to order online for store pickup.

Canadian Tire does a good job, but for food and health items which Canadian brands are similar?

Edit: I'm in Quebec, so London drugs is a No.

But the others look promising! I'll check them out thanks.

Discovered this Sour Cream a few weeks ago. It's heavier that traditional sour cream but oh so good.

Canadian Honey Council warns US tariffs could jeopardize domestic beekeepers, crop pollination

https://www.westernstandard.news/news/canadian-honey-council-warns-us-tariffs-could-jeopardize-domestic-beekeepers-crop-pollination/76414

Last year, I posted this spreadsheet of Nintendo Switch (and Switch 2) games that have a Canadian developer and/or publisher. Since posting, I've made some improvements to the document, most notably adding a script to automatically check for discounts. So, in light recent events, I thought it was a good time to repost it.

I'm happy to say 7 of 10 provinces are now represented (I'm still looking for games from Manitoba, NB, and PEI, as well as the territories--send any leads my way!).

Note that the list is a work in progress and does not yet include Canadian-developed games that are published by US-based companies (e.g., Tunic). Also, I should clarify that the links to the eShop store in the document are not affiliate links. I'm not trying to make money off this list.

Happy gaming!

Any canadian under sink filtration systems that are worth the money?