How to Buy 'Canadian Made' on a Budget

There is a silver lining in everything and tariff threats are no exception. Consumers are finally waking up to how important buying ‘Canadian made’ really is. We’ve been touting ‘shop local’ for years yet, the Walmarts and Amazons have continued their invasion. Buying ‘made in Canada’ has many benefits! You’ve probably heard that it keeps more money circulating within the local economy, supports local businesses, builds community, and reduces transportation costs. But, there are other, less recognized, benefits as well. 

There are tons of hidden costs that consumers don’t realize that they’re paying for when they purchase imported products, food included. For starters, the costs and emissions associated with transporting perishable food doesn’t not take into account the energy needed for refrigeration. The hundred mile diet is back on! Then there is the wear and tear of trucks on highways. Guess who pays to maintain roads? We do. Finally, there is all the packaging to consider. Food packaging is a leading contributor of waste to our landfills. Waste management is another public service we all pay for. And this doesn’t even take into account the cost of pollution on our environment and all the associated health care costs that put further strain on our communities.

The price of imported products appears to be more competitive than the locally produced equivalent but when you take into account all the other costs downloaded on our social system, one starts to understand why municipal taxes keep increasing while the services we rely on keep decreasing. Every time we purchase goods from large mult-national manufacturers, we're downloading all those hidden costs on ourselves. We can’t afford not to shop local! The addition of tariffs on imports will make Canadian goods the better deal. 

We know it can be difficult to determine what’s Canadian and what’s not or, what purchases might undermine our communities and what might support them? So, we put together a list of things to consider before spending your money:

Seek out products manufactured in Canada. Read the labels. Items are often designed in Canada but manufactured somewhere else where labour is cheaper. Or, items are manufactured here but incorporate ingredients or parts from somewhere else. The dairy, meat, cereal and automotive industries can be guilty of this. Let business owners know that you want Canadian made. Never doubt that you have financial influence with your spending. Due to recent consumer demand, companies have already started moving manufacturing back to Canada. Local Laundry comes to mind - a clothing designer and manufacturer committed to producing Canadian-made only. The more we spend on products made in our own country, the more viable these businesses become. ANIÁN is another apparel designer and manufacturer based on the West Coast that actively participates in the circular economy by giving new life to salvaged natural textiles. We carry their buffalo blanket in our shop made right here in Canada from recycled cotton. Find their clothing line at Zinnia Textiles in Nelson. Canadian clothing can be more expensive than imports but of much better quality. Also, the more we support local business the more affordable locally produced products will become. 

Buy bulk and save money. Most things can be found in bulk. It helps reduce waste and it’s more convenient than you think. Soaps, lotions, toothpaste and a wide variety of dry goods such as flour, oats, sugar, pasta, spices, nuts, rice, coffee, tea, dried fruit and beans are all available bulk. Beans are much cheaper to purchase dry then canned and may be stored for a long time. Freeze dry goods to extend the shelf life more. Most of these items are manufactured in Canada by Canadian companies. Did you know that Canada is the leading producer of dried beans? Some shops, like Kootenay Coop, offer a 10% discount when you bring your own container or bag. It’s worth the effort to bring your own container! More Nelson shops to find a wide variety of personal care products in bulk include Mountain Refillery and Taylor and Mae. Just like it’s a good idea to have extra money saved for an emergency, the same goes for food. Having that extra food at home buys you time and peace of mind. 

Hunt for sales. Because many items eventually expire, one can find some good clearance deals on items that are nearing their ‘best before date’. Even bulk products go on sale from time to time. Stock up then. Many stores also have case lot sales where if you buy a large volume you can enjoy large savings. Wait to purchase seasonal clothing and equipment such as jackets or bathing suits, snow boots or sandals and skis or shovels at the end of the season and store them until you need them. It helps small businesses to clear these items out too. It costs money to store dead stock. 

Live and eat within the seasons. We’ve grown accustomed to strawberries or lettuce in the middle of the winter but these items have to travel hundreds of miles to get to you. They’re not as fresh which makes them less nutritious. They won’t taste as good as locally grown either. Mostly, these foods are grown conventionally with unsustainable practices that pollute water, deplete valuable topsoil and exploit immigrant workers. Buy from local farmers and producers when in season and stock up on preserved items for winter. Carrots, beats and potatoes will last for months in your fridge or cold room. Same for onions and garlic stored in a dry dark place. I buy a lot of frozen produce at this time of year. It’s easy to find Canadian broccoli, green beans and peas in the frozen food aisle. Look for the 'Canada Grade A' label. Consider purchasing a CSA (Community Shared Agriculture) and enjoy fresh, local produce all summer. Some farms are able to offer more choice. Personally, I find a set weekly delivery a nice surprise. I always end up with something I have never tried before and I learn to cook something new. When you can choose anything, it’s a relief to have the choice made for you. Some local farms to check out include Mystical Valley Farm, Confluence Farms or Foresight Farm. There are many to choose from and considering that these farms only grow about 5% of produce for our area, there is a lot of room for growth. 

Consider a staycation or other holiday in Canada. Visit a new place in your own backyard that you haven’t explored before. Canada is quite literally a year round paradise where you can experience swimming in pristine lakes, hiking beautiful forest trails, viewing the beauty of autumn leaves turning colour or skiing alpine mountains. Spend your money at Canadian tourist destinations! 

Avoid anything in plastic wrap. If it comes wrapped in plastic, especially food, it’s probably not sustainable or local. Choose reusable fabric bags for all your produce. Once home, use waxed fabric to store things that dry out easily such as bread. Use glass containers or canning jars for items that need to be stored in air tight conditions. I don’t buy anything that comes packaged in unnecessary plastic for the simple reason that it requires that I think twice about my choice - do I really need this product? I’ll have to deal with the waste later. It never goes away even if I bring it to the dump. It just becomes part of a growing burden on my community. Bring your own containers for meat or insist on paper wrap. ‘Meat diapers’ have to be the most wasteful packaging of all. They can’t be recycled or reused. The only choice is to put them in the garbage and they stink. And styrofoam is terrible stuff. 

Make stuff yourself. Learn to bake your own bread, tortillas or granola and save tons of money. None of these items are difficult to make and it’s a lot easier to source bulk products made in Canada than packaged ones. I just recently learned how to make naan. It’s so easy and delicious, I will never buy it again. Here is the recipe. A lot of raw Canadian grown foods get exported to the USA to be processed into various products that are then imported back at an additional cost that is passed onto you. 

Repair stuff. It’s not your imagination that things aren’t built like they used to. This is ‘planned obsolescence’ - a business strategy where products are intentionally designed to have a short lifespan or to break easily. The goal is to encourage consumers to buy new products or upgrades more often. There has been a move to effectively ban this practice in Canada. It would explicitly prohibit the manufacturing, distribution, and sale of goods designed to become obsolete prematurely which includes provisions for a "good working order" warranty for specific consumer electronics and appliances, alongside enhanced right-to-repair measures. This move is more relevant than ever and should include motor vehicles. Write a letter to your political leader and demand it. 

Buy used. One can crunch the numbers any way you like but less waste is produced by repairing older stuff than to purchase new. The energy and resources needed to manufacture new is often not factored into the environmental footprint of a product. Thrift stores are a growing business sector and these enterprises often share profits directly with charitable organizations. Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore is one example. In Nelson, there is S.H.A.R.E., the Salvation Army and Positive Apparel. Vintage or consignment shops are another option for both clothing and furniture and most are owned and operated by small, local entrepreneurs. Did you know there is a party bus tour supporting non profits, community services and small businesses around the West Kootenays? Thrift The Koots. Check it out. Can’t get any more local than this.

Share. Get to know your neighbours. Increase your purchasing power by sharing the cost with family, friends or neighbours. For example, purchase a side of beef together or bulk fruit and host a Canning Bee to preserve it all. Better yet host a food swap. This is trading, not buying. A food swap is a more personal alternative to the commercial food marketplace with the added benefit of circumventing onerous health and safety regulations. Commercial processed food must be prepared in a licensed kitchen by someone who has taken required sanitation training, and labeled according to industry standards that all add to the cost. At a food swap, participants can trade anything including baked goods, candies, condiments, preserved fruits and vegetables, cheese, fermented foods, drink syrups, alcoholic infusions, hand-milled flours, herbs and produce from vegetable gardens, eggs from backyard chickens, foraged fruits, and so on. You could allow the trade of non-food items too, such as dog treats, candles, knitted sweaters items, furs, health and beauty products or other items you might nee. 

Make no mistake, a possible trade war between the USA and Canada is all about protecting big business profits. Big business does not care about us or any average citizen on either side of the border. Free trade agreements are negotiated to protect the shareholders of large multinational companies focused on profits alone. Same goes for inter-provincial trade barriers. If our leaders actually cared about us, we would already be self-sufficient with food security, housing for everyone, better access to healthcare, free public transportation, value added manufacturing with secure jobs, abundant affordable energy and no trade barriers between provinces. Provincial and federal governments are all guilty of selling our national interests to foreign nationals for short term gain. Even Nelson Hydro is at the mercy of Fortis which has taken control of electricity production in our region. Our economic system has pitted ordinary citizens against each other competing for artificially limited resources at higher and higher prices. Individualism has replaced community connections and undermined our trust in each other. The only way to combat this is to relocalize. That means getting to know your neighbours again, making the effort to buy local, consuming less and sharing more. We need to build back communities on a local level to insulate us from financial hardship. The best way to do that is source as many of your daily needs as you can, locally. This whole ordeal is a wake up call to communities everywhere to not be complacent. Don’t choose convenience over long term security and sustainability. We have the power to vote with our dollars. 

Let's build our own list of local products, businesses and policies to support right here. Leave your suggestion in a comment below.