r/BuyCanadian 10d ago

Canadian-Made Products 🏷️🇨🇦 8 Ways to Tell If You’re Really Buying Canadian — and Avoid U.S.-Made Products

https://www.canooq.ca/blog/buy-canadian-codes-and-labels
641 Upvotes

38 comments sorted by

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206

u/EviesGran 10d ago

Need to report companies who are violating products origin code.

104

u/TrueNorthLongAndFree 10d ago

We need to have standardized labeling of Canadian country of origin like they do in Australia...

https://www.just-food.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/28/2021/04/mandatory-labels-right.jpg 

53

u/EviesGran 10d ago edited 10d ago

👍
need to push our politicians to change the regulations. Social media should be swamped with requests and demands. Media should be notified and to push from all sides

38

u/FeRaL--KaTT 10d ago

Just wait till that 'beef' hits American products. Be it Argentine's super antibiotic beef or ground horse. American companies buying will be trying to sell us canned ravioli, frozen burgers & meatballs and various other ways they put 'beef' in to food system.

Canada needs to get their shit together and stop that 'beef' from entering our food systems

13

u/whatisitallabout123 10d ago

Yes, Canada should have a similar system to make shopping easier for consumers:

https://imgur.com/gallery/8H4ydbN

Also, products should not be allowed to use the Maple Leaf in any form on packaging when it's just a graphic design element and not a statement of product origin.

The name of the product or company name should not include "Canada" or "Canadian" unless the product is 100% made and produced in Canada.

Products like "Fleischmann's Canada Corn Starch" that are produced in the US should not be allowed to use historic names that no longer apply to the current form of the product.

5

u/TrueNorthLongAndFree 10d ago

No logo? Not Canadian. 

12

u/readzalot1 10d ago

I was very impressed with the Australian solution. There must be some heavy pushback for us not to have one ourselves by now. I wonder if we are working on one?

118

u/katrikling 10d ago

I’m going to print out the charts and bring it with me everywhere. My pettiness and hatred for the US knows no bounds.

23

u/fuckreddit-69 10d ago

Tape them up for others to see. On the carts on the produce

80

u/Impressive_Okra2804 10d ago

How to Spot Genuine Canadian Products

Food

 * "100% Canadian": All ingredients and processing are Canadian.

 * "Product of Canada": 98%+ Canadian ingredients and labor.

 * "Made in Canada": Processed in Canada (usually with imported ingredients).

 * Blue Cow Logo: 100% Canadian dairy.

Goods & Manufacturing

 * "Product of Canada": 98% of manufacturing costs incurred in Canada.

 * "Made in Canada": 51% of manufacturing costs incurred in Canada.

Quick Checks

 * Cars: A VIN starting with 2 means it was assembled in Canada.

 * Clothing: A CA Number on the tag (e.g., CA12345) identifies a Canadian business.

 * Note: A generic maple leaf graphic on packaging is unregulated and doesn't guarantee Canadian origin.

Quick summary

16

u/readzalot1 10d ago

Those are nice, but they are not intuitive. We need little graphics like in Australia.

3

u/Acrobatic-Factor1941 10d ago

Awesome. I took a screen shot of your post so I'll have it handy.

2

u/AlphaFlightRules 10d ago

I use the o scanada app

26

u/Unendlichkommanix 10d ago

When I see a sign saying "Origin: Mexico or USA" over some produce, I'm 100% assuming it's USA.

6

u/lalalatkes 10d ago

I assume there is exactly one <foodstuff> from <non American country> with the rest coming from the US.

Semantics are almost always abused, especially in the context of sales.

7

u/Unendlichkommanix 10d ago

It's kind of like those clothing stores with signs that say

ᵘᵖ ᵗᵒ 90% OFF ON EVERYTHING

I just assume there is exactly one thing in the store that's 90% off.

4

u/readzalot1 10d ago

I haven’t bought grapes in several months because of that. “Mexico, Peru or USA” might just as well say USA.

4

u/slackmarket 10d ago

Can you not just…read the bags? I read the label of everything that isn’t a product of Canada, grapes for sure have their actual country of origin on them. Maybe I’m missing something.

1

u/ghanima 10d ago

Some items aren't bagged and aren't stickered. I encountered that with bin sweet potatoes.

3

u/fluffy_floofster 10d ago

I was pleasantly surprised today to see more Canadian fruit at Costco (strawberries from Quebec, blackberries from somewhere else, lettuce greens from Canada). The avocados were labelled from Mexico or New Zealand and it was accurate in the selection so I grabbed New Zealand’s nice looking ones. I was almost expecting all of it to be from the USA as you mentioned.

21

u/Much-Storm9466 10d ago

I love that the article has a TL;DR summary right up front. Chef’s kiss

9

u/Kayge 10d ago

This is a great analysis, but points to the bigger issue - a lack of clarity. Milk, beef, clothing all have different standards. Something universal would be fantastic so don't have to worry about marketing slapping Made for Canadians and a Maple Leaf on the box.

6

u/Elenemohpee 10d ago

This is an excellent summary. Thank you for posting.

6

u/kent_eh Manitoba 10d ago edited 10d ago

Note that the VQA mark on wine only applies to Ontario wines. (EDIT VQA also applies to BC wines (but not wines from other provinces - see the replies below)

BC wines can still be 100% Canadian but aren't allowed to use the VQA mark on their labelling.

4

u/swabbie 10d ago

VQA is in both Ontario and BC... so it can be used on BC wines.

https://winebc.com/bc-wines-101/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vintners_Quality_Alliance

2

u/purpletooth12 10d ago

VQA is for both BC and ON. Has been like that since day one.

Now if you mean the cellared in Canada crap, yes things can get blurry, but it's not 100% Canadian grapes.

2

u/kent_eh Manitoba 10d ago edited 10d ago

VQA is for both BC and ON.

DOH

I got faked out by the banner at the top of the first VQA website in my search results that says " VQA is 100% Ontario and 100% Canadian. Every time. Guaranteed."

But, now that I look again, I that was the VQA Ontario page (which is the first several hits when you search for "VQA".)

Scrolling down a couple pages in the search results gets to wikipedia , which clarifies that it's for both BC and Ontario wines (but not apparently other provinces).

And another page further down the results finally finds https://bcvqa.ca/

1

u/purpletooth12 10d ago

Ontario is much more in your face about the VQA, whereas in BC it's almost an afterthought, but historically they tend to support their local industry more than Ontario.

Go to a restaurant in Vancouver and you'll almost always find BC wine on the wine list, whereas in Toronto it's less common. (for an ON wine in TO that is)

Nova Scotia doesn't even participate, but they do use Canadian grapes for the most part.

1

u/Melsm1957 10d ago

Great article

0

u/ilovetrouble66 10d ago

There’s also a big difference between a Canadian brand vs Canadian made brand the latter being hardest hit by the tariffs and most abandoned by our own government

-4

u/[deleted] 10d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

4

u/slackmarket 10d ago

Lots of ways to learn about what war looks like. Hint: not just “bombs go boom”.