Buy Canadian

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A community dedicated to buying Canadian products.

founded 2 years ago
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Unfortunately, there are no Canadian owned and operated search engines (they were all acquired by Americans! Yes really). The next best alternative is Ecosia, which is the only major search engine that actually invests to Canadians' benefit. Ecosia partners with Tree Canada to regenerate Canadian forests.

In Canada, Ecosia’s reforestation project is located within the Acadian Forest and focuses on restoring its historic diversity in areas that have been degraded by centuries of intensive land use.

Video playlist: How Ecosia works.

Ecosia is also B Corp Certified. This means they have changed their by-laws to be mission locked, and are required to consider stakeholders' interests such as employees, customers, and the environment.

Ecosia is a not-for-profit tech company that plants and protects trees. By dedicating 100% of its profits to the planet, Ecosia has planted over 214,229,374 million trees since its founding in December 2009. In addition to trees, Ecosia invests in environmental and social initiatives like regenerative agriculture, renewable energy and community-driven climate projects.


Getting Started

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CIRA Canadian Shield

Protect your family with the same advanced technology that protects Canadian organizations—for free. CIRA Canadian Shield double checks to see if websites are malicious and if we know they are, we’ll stop you from visiting them.

The service is completely free, meaning no advertising, no tracking and no reselling your data to others.


Configuration Guide

Three options for your DNS

  1. Private: Offering DNS resolution only
  2. Protected: Adds malware, phishing, botnet and scam protection
  3. Family: Adds pornographic content to the block list

Canadian Shield is available to be set up both for entire networks or on a variety of devices and platforms.

To protect devices while they are connected to your home internet, CIRA recommends setting up CIRA Canadian Shield on your router/gateway as this will protect your whole network.


Frequently Asked Questions

What is the DNS?The DNS standard is as old as the world-wide-web itself (remember when we called it that!) It is a massively redundant hierarchical system of databases that is used to correlate human readable domain names with the IP addresses of the servers where websites and applications live. It is designed to ensure 100% availability for the Internet’s critical infrastructure. It looks like this:

www.cira.ca –> 52.60.203.65

Most households don’t think about the DNS and stick with whatever their ISP has pre-configured but there are many options available for those that choose to use a different service to handle their queries. The CIRA Canadian Shield is one such option.

If you want to get really deep then please read our resource on how the DNS works or see the full glossary of terms.

How is CIRA Canadian Shield different from a Virtual Private Network (VPN) and will it work with my VPN?

The core benefit of CIRA Canadian Shield is that it blocks malware and phishing using the DNS. While it does offer options for DNS encryption it does not encrypt all traffic and so is not a replacement for those looking for a full VPN.

The exception is for those looking for a mobile VPN specifically for browser-based traffic over HTTP while on public networks. In this instance, the mobile application has an option, called “Secure WiFi” that is a paid upgrade and will encrypt all non-HTTPs traffic when on public WiFi networks.

Please note that if you are using a VPN then the CIRA Canadian Shield will not be providing DNS service, including protection, while you are on the VPN.

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submitted 21 hours ago* (last edited 20 hours ago) by paperBark@slrpnk.net to c/buycanadian@lemmy.ca
 
 

Unnecessary BackgroundWell I've begun shopping for a reasonably-priced concert ukulele in anticipation of completing Bernadette Teaches Music's #30dayUKEchallenge. I'm already finding my little soprano (that I bought without research) to be a bit uncomfortably small. After watching a size comparison, I suppose I should have started with a concert instead. But, it will be a good excuse to reward myself for finally sticking with an instrument for an entire program after years of on and off interest. (Recently I've been finding (micro)rewarding progress is helpful with ADHD)

I suppose I should have expected most of the major brands to be USA based since Hawaii was colonized afterall.

Here's a list of Non-USA owned brands that I found in a preliminary search.

  • Ibanez

    • Country of Manufacture: I spy Made in China on all 3 uke models
    • Country of Ownership: Japan
  • Aria

    • Country of Manufacture: China and Indonesia, Japan for platinum line (no ukes)
    • Country of Ownership: Japan
  • Cordoba

    • Country of Manufacture: China
    • Country of Ownership: ~~Spain~~ Japan, owned by Yamaha now
  • Your Local Luthier

    • Country of Manufacture: Canada
    • Country of Ownership: Canada
    • Edit: Added this in for those who can afford it/are skilled enough to justify a handmade one!

Disclaimer: Always check the CoM for a specific model you are interested in if you want to make sure.

Would love suggestions for other quality brands too if you know of any others!

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I'm not affiliated with Michaud Toys, I'm just a very happy customer. The craftsmanship is amazing. Prices and delivery costs were very reasonable too ($45 for the board + $15 for delivery to Belleville Ontario). Their website has loads of games michaudtoys.org

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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/39500663

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Theoretically, if Canadians gave real-looking one star ratings on Google Maps for Tesla dealerships and chargers, then it would discourage buying Teslas. People who already own Teslas would choose public chargers from other brands - even Canadian ones. It would also be hilarious to see every place selling swastikars with reviews lower than a doge employee's IQ.

Skim existing low reviews, find a common thread, and run with it.

🫡🇨🇦

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Just a little reminder.

Pisses me off to no end that they use the Canadian identity for marketing when they sold out decades ago.

Also their coffee and food has been shit for a long time too, coincidence? I think not.

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Hi all. My wife has celiac disease and cannot have gluten at all. Ive cut out all American products but its much harder for her since her food options are so limited.

I was wondering what Canadian (or just not American) gluten free products or brands you might recommend! Thanks!

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What are our options for Peertube?

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The app is called Maple Scan. Just downloaded it but have yet to give it a whirl.

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So I had a TV service I rarely used, I kept it just cause I did occasionally use it to watch sports or whatever that were not easily accessible online. I was not using it much but it was worked into my budget non the less, last night when I was thinking about how I consume TV shows; I first realized I was paying YouTube (I bought an annual subscription that ends at the end of March) to watch the monologue of some late night TV shows, I thought about it and realized the Google was paying those channels for me to watch some of the show so I am going to mark them to not be suggested to me via YouTube anymore and watch them via Canadian channel apps. I then thought about giving up on them all together, I do not know if I am ready to do that yet but I am seriously considering that whaat do others think?

Then finally I thought long and hard and realized I am paying for a TV service I rarely use, and it has US channels on it so I was paying to have access to US channels that I am not using or going to use so I cancelled my TV subscription.

As someone who very rarely watches traditional TV it feels so freeing knowing I am not paying a very small price to American stations to have access to their channels. I realize the Canadian stations pay to show the American shows but I sneakily get around that by having a pihole to block ads so the Canadian channels are not making money off of me to watch US TV shows, it is like sailing the high seas without the actual plundering.

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Popov Leather (BC) (www.popovleather.com)
submitted 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) by Soulforged@lemmy.ca to c/buycanadian@lemmy.ca
 
 

Just wanted to shout out my favourite place to get leather goods! Handmade in Nelson, BC with a lifetime guarantee. I have purchased from them several times and have never been disappointed. Their quality is fantastic, would highly recommend!

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submitted 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) by paperBark@slrpnk.net to c/buycanadian@lemmy.ca
 
 

I just wanted to shout out Egli Farm. I found them while doing my Christmas shopping this year and everything my partner and I have gotten has been great quality at fair prices. The sheepskin bucket hat was a big hit at Christmas since it enables year round bucket-hattery in Canada lol

They have hundreds of Made in Canada wool and sheepskin products including clothing, footwear, homegoods, raw wool and sheepskin supplies, etc. Seems like they contract some of the more processing-intense type products out to Stanfields but they're in Canada too 🤙

Family-owned in Ontario since 1952!

P.S. if you end up ordering something leave a note on the order suggesting they switch to a .ca TLD so its easier for people tell they're Canadian

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Searching this, I see a couple options, mainly in the 'Eco-friendly' direction. (e.g. Made of corn husks or silk, etc.)

Has anyone found/tried a Canadian made floss? Any good? I can't seem to find any at local stores, so it seems like a lot to spend to buy a single pack of floss and ship it here.

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I was at the grocery store the other day and there was a bin of American broccoli completely full and untouched. The Canadian broccoli bin? Empty. Canadians would literally rather give up broccoli than buy American.

I for one picked had broccoli on my grocery list but opted for cauliflower instead.

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I just find it funny that things like Montana's, Boston Pizza and New York Fries are Canadian. Any other American-named places that are Canadian?

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I have been using some brands for decades (e.g. Paula's choice) but would rather shop local. Does anyone have any favorite Canadian skincare brands they'd recommend?

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I do love me some wordle, connections and the odd sporcle quiz. Does anyone know anything like that that is Canadian made and managed?

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submitted 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) by otter@lemmy.ca to c/buycanadian@lemmy.ca
 
 

I've heard good things from others so far, anything to be concerned about with them?

From their about page:

It began on Kits Beach in Vancouver, Canada. Three friends launched a mission to create a better way to help people see.

We've served over 1 million customers since 2018, proving that premium eyecare can be convenient, fast, and affordable.

KITS offers a rich selection of premium eyecare products: our own KITS brand as well as a large, curated portfolio of designer frames and contacts.

We prioritize our customers above all else. We are obsessed with the quality of our products and your KITS experience.

KITS is vertically integrated, lean and local. This enables us to make premium eyecare affordable, convenient, and fast.

KITS is proudly Canadian - owned and operated. Our modern optical lab in Vancouver is where we craft our lenses and tailor glasses to customer's prescription.

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