How we list

We list makers from public sources; owners can claim their listing. This page explains what that means.

Where listings come from

We find makers through product research, community suggestions and Canadian signals (province names, .ca domains, “made in Canada”) and impact signals, like a banner that says tariff and duty on US orders are included in shipping, or a note that US shipping is paused. These are research leads, not eligibility requirements. We also read news coverage. Or a maker applies. Either way a listing is drafted from what the maker’s own site and the sources say, and a person reviews it before it goes live.

Helping people support your work

We help people discover Canadian makers, hear their stories, and find ways to support their work. Canadian makers of every size have stories worth sharing. US customers and tariff impact are not requirements for a listing.

Tell us what you make, where you make it, and how things have changed for your business. You can share photos, social links, and your experience in your own words. Our team handles the tariff research, so you can focus on telling your story.

Every listing gives visitors a place to start: shop your products, follow your work, or share your story with someone who would love what you make. A share is the easiest way to help out.

Where a maker has said something in public about the tariffs, on their own site, in the news, or on social media, we quote it word for word under “In their own words” with a link and date. We never paraphrase a quote or take one from a private account.

Buying guides and company size

Our buying guides are selections with product examples, production sources and links to makers’ own shops. We give small makers particular attention and welcome larger focused companies. A guide is not a complete market survey or a product certification.

For browsing, small means fewer than 10 employees and larger means 10 or more. We use owner-supplied employee numbers or an explicit sourced headcount; founder names and inferred catalog estimates do not establish team size. Unknown stays visible. These are our browsing groups, not official business classifications.

What we check

• That the business is based in Canada, from its own site or a news source.
• What the maker produces and how those products connect to the US tariff list we track. Our team checks product descriptions against the tariff entries and includes supporting sources with each match.
• When an impact account is included, that it has a source: the maker’s own site, a news story, or an owner statement. The source and its date are shown on the card.
• That the shop link works. We re-check every listing monthly and show the date.

What we do not check

• Ownership records. We do not pull corporate registries for every listing.
• Whether a product qualifies as “Product of Canada” or “Made in Canada” under Competition Bureau guidance. We repeat what the maker says and link to it.
• Sales figures, employee counts or the size of the loss, beyond what the source states.
• Quality of the goods or the shop. We are a directory, not a review site.

That is why we never use certification language about a listing. A listing is what public sources say, shown with its sources, and the owner can correct it.

What the statuses mean

Community-listed

Drafted from public sources and reviewed by a volunteer. The owner has not yet claimed it.

Owner-claimed

The owner has confirmed the listing by email, using a matching domain, the published contact email, or a token on their site. They can edit it and add a dated statement, shown verbatim.

Removed

Taken down at the business’s request or because the shop closed. Logged below.

Listings still in review are not shown publicly. A person reviews each draft before it is published.

Claims and edits

A claim is accepted automatically when the email domain matches the shop domain, when the email matches the contact address found on the shop at discovery, or when the owner places a one-line token on their site. Everything else is read by a person. Owners can edit description, products, impact statement and photos, and sign a dated attestation that they are Canadian-owned and independent.

If the tariffs end

If a line is removed or the measure is struck down, the listing wording changes from “hit by” to “was hit by” and the maker stays listed. The tariff line itself is marked retired with a date.

Removals log

Removal requests are honoured within 48 hours and recorded here. Emails are never shown.