How to tell if a brand is actually Canadian

A maple leaf in the logo, a .ca address and prices in Canadian dollars prove nothing. Any of them can sit on a store that ships from a warehouse overseas. These are the checks that do tell you, in the order we run them ourselves.

1. Find the company behind the brand

A brand name is not a company. Look for the legal name in the footer, the terms of service or the privacy policy, often after "operated by". If you can't find one anywhere, that tells you something too.

2. Check the registry

Search the legal name in Canada's federal corporate registry, and in the province's if it isn't there. A Canadian corporation shows up with its registered office and status. This is the check that settles incorporated in Canada, and it can't be faked with a logo.

3. Check who owns it

Incorporation isn't ownership. A foreign company can register a Canadian subsidiary. Look for "a subsidiary of", a parent company, or news of an acquisition. Ad Standards has ruled that a company bought by a foreign owner can't keep calling itself Truly Canadian, however Canadian its history.

4. Check where it ships from

Read the shipping policy and the returns address. A Canadian business usually ships from a named Canadian town and quotes delivery in days. Warning signs: a returns address abroad, delivery quoted in weeks, or duties at the door on an order that was supposed to be domestic.

5. Check there's a real business

Real businesses leave traces: a named founder, a studio or a shop with an address, photos of the work being done, a history you can find. Warning signs: nobody named anywhere, stock photos, and the same product with the same photos on many other stores at different prices.

6. Read the product claim, not the brand

A Canadian brand can sell things made anywhere. Whether the product itself was made here is a separate question, with its own rules. See Product of Canada vs Made in Canada for what the claims mean, and Canadian-owned vs Made in Canada for why the two get confused.

Or let us do it

That's a lot of work for a bottle of dish soap. It's also exactly what we do before anything is listed on Bunchberry. Every business here has passed three gates: incorporated here, ships from Canada, and a real business behind it. A Canadian shop with a physical store or a real founder passes; a faceless dropshipper doesn't. We check the registry, where orders actually ship from, and talk to the founder, and we place a test order.

Then every product carries one of three labels, Made in Canada, Canadian Brand or Canadian Shop, so you know how Canadian it is as well as who you're buying from. Our Standard has the whole method.

Questions

Does a .ca website mean a business is Canadian?

No. The rules for who can hold a .ca are broad, and a .ca says nothing about who owns the business or where orders ship from. Check the registry instead.

Are prices in Canadian dollars a sign a business is Canadian?

No. Most online stores show prices in your currency, wherever they are.

What's the quickest single check?

The registry search. It takes a minute and tells you whether there's a Canadian corporation behind the name at all.